It was Beautiful
by wurlocke
Summary: [Completed] Sara heeds Grissom's advice and gets a life outside of work. What happens when someone from the lab finds out her yet-secret life? Please read and reviews will be appreciated.
1. Chapter I

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I am still uncertain as to what title I'm going to use for this fic. Please read and reviews will be much apprecited. It's all about Sara and Grissom here. :D

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CHAPTER I

Warrick was early for work. He didn't need to be at the lab for an hour yet. What he would have loved was to go to the Tangiers and gamble, but he didn't want to disappoint Grissom anymore. His gambling addiction has caused enough trouble. He was over that. Instead, here he was inside some unknown bar called "Tikirocks" drinking a bottle of beer to pull him through the night.

The place wasn't all that bad. True, there weren't a lot of customers in it, but that was maybe part of the charm that drew him into it. He just didn't feel like crowds tonight. He'd been feeling stressed at work lately.

There was a narrow stage and an amateur singer on stage. He didn't have your usual celebrity singing voice, but they weren't bad either. The one that was on had just finished his set of 5 songs. He may have been rocky at some parts but most of his performance was nothing short of good.

Warrick took another sip of his beer. Enjoying the feel of the cold liquid flowing down his throat.

"Ladies and Gents," started the bar owner. He had stepped up the small stage, replacing the guy who moments ago was pouring out his heart with songs. "Please, give a hand for Bobby!" There was a good amount of applause from the scant audience, most of it coming from one of the tables that was occupied by what looked like Bobby's friends. A smirk came to Warrick's dark face and he said to himself, "Now, there's moral support for you."

"Now, we have someone who, from time to time comes here to sing us a song." The owner started talking again. Trying to solicit the audience's attention. "She's a lovely woman with a lovely voice. So, please, come and welcome Sara!"

Warrick's thoughts immediately went to his colleague, Sara Sidle, at the mention of the singer's name. He sighed momentarily. Lately, she had been looking much paler than usual. To him, she looked defeated. She hardly joked around with them anymore. She spent hours in the lab, despite maxing out on her overtime. "I have to talk to her about this," he thought, taking another deep sip. "I gotta find out what's on her mind. She needs to snap out of this."

"Do I consult with Grissom?" The question hung inside his mind because at that moment, 'Sara', the singer stepped up on stage.

Warrick's jaw dropped. Was he imagining it, or was it really Sara Sidle up on that stage? He remembered Nick telling him about Sara's singing. Nick mentioned that she sounded good. And he had once heard her himself, humming some tune while in the lab. Warrick never thought that she'd be on stage though. It wasn't like her, actually. He never figured her to be someone who dropped her usual tough exterior and be on this kind of spotlight.

Anticipation tingled all through out Warrick's body. He prayed that Sara would be good at this. Thankful that most of the bar's lights were centered around the audience area, he shifted in his seat to get a better look of the stage. He didn't wish for Sara to see him. He was sure that if she wanted people to know that she did this, she would have told them by now.

"Hi." Sara's greeting sounded more like a whisper to his ears. Warrick's hand tightened around his beer bottle. He saw Sara take a deep breath to calm herself and then she bowed her head.

The band started playing the intro to the song. He wasn't familiar with it, but he didn't care. All he cared about was seeing Sara perform. He saw Sara close her eyes and lift her face up to the microphone.

Awe struck him as the first few lines of the song floated from her lips.

_I've seen this place a thousand times._

_I've felt this all before._

_And everytime you call, I've waited there, as though you might not call at all._

_I know this face I'm wearing now._

_I've seen this in my eyes._

_And though it feels so great, I'm still afraid that you'll be leaving anytime._

Every second that passed by seemed like an hour to Warrick. Sara's voice was amazing. Amazing was an understatement. She sang the song with pure emotion, he could tell by her body language. Never had he seen her so vulnerable.

The song flowed smoothly from Sara. He caught himself taking sharp breaths everytime she sang the chorus.

_Don't say you love me unless forever._

_Don't tell me you need me, if you're not going to stay._

_Don't give me this feeling, I'll only belive it. Make it real, or take it all away._

"Dammit Grissom!" He cursed to himself. He knew who the song was for. Everyone in the lab knew about the whole Sara-Grissom thing. Everyone was intrigued about it. They all wanted to see them together. Everyone knew they've been dacing around each other for years. Nobody knew what really went on between them, but they knew it was beyond physical attraction.

Warrick had heard rumours about Grissom's rejection of the dinner date posted by Sara. He really wasn't one for gossip, but he believed it, seeing how Sara's tough exterior hardening even more just after that.

He saw, now, the reason why she had been distant. Why there were no more of those flirting smiles and meaningful looks between Grissom and her. Once again, Grissom, being Grissom, had pushed Sara away.

Warrick was snatched back to reality when he realized that Sara had finished singing. As opposed to the meager applause that 'Bobby' received for his performance, Sara's audience were so captivated that she received a more enthusiastic 'thank you' from them.

Warrick felt a sense of pride, hearing the cheers and the applause from the people at the bar. His heart swelled for Sara.

With a husky "Thank you", Sara left the spotlight of the stage, said a few words to the bar owner and went backstage.

Warrick drained the remains of his beers, handed his payment to the bartender and left the bar before he'd have the unfortunate possibility of running into Sara.


	2. Chapter II

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I am still uncertain as to what title I'm going to use for this fic. Please read and reviews will be much appreciated. It's all about Sara and Grissom here. :D

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CHAPTER II

She exhaled deeply. She had been nervous about performing. Yes, she had done it quite a number of times already, but it still hasn't erased the butterflies that always came when she faced the mic.

Her audience were great. She was grateful that the bar never had more than 20 customers at a time. This was something private for her. She didn't want a large crowd to laugh at her when her voice breaks. Thankfully, that hasn't happened...yet.

She stared at her mirrored self. She almost lost it out there. She had, once again, successfully kept her emotions from breaking her voice. She felt her eyes watering, tears threatening to spill over her pale cheeks. She didn't want to feel this anymore.

Hurt played a major part in her feelings. She hated him, yet she loved him. She always have. She figured, expressing her feelings through songs would be easier than bottling them up. Before she found this kind of release, she always felt like she was going to explode whenever she saw him. Him, her supervisor and her friend. Sometimes, just the mere sight of him would turn her into a blabbering somebody.

Things had turned worse when he had refused to have dinner with her. It took all her courage to even ask him out. She had followed him around the lab earlier that day, trying to get the perfect timing to ask. The lab explosion that happened moments after she had walked away from her intention had hardened her resolve some more. She didn't want to die without knowing how he felt about her.

The rejection was worse than the damage she had received from the explosion. She felt embarrassed after that. She found every excuse to stay away from him. Found herself dreading the times that they had to work together. If Grissom noticed the change, he surely didn't mind or showed any concern over it. She felt lost. That was when she decided to take him up on his advice.

"Find a hobby", he had said. This, singing, was it. This was her hobby and this was now her emotional release.

She hadn't told anyone about the singing. She wasn't ready to reveal this yet. She knew that they'd find out the real reason why she did this simply by listening to her sing. Her heart sang whenever she sang.

Sara shook the ghosts of her thoughts away from her mind. She looked at the mirror once more, banishing thoughts other than getting to work from her mind. Grabbing her things, she quickly left the bar using the back entrance, boarded her Denali and drove to work.

Sighing, she told herself, this time out loud, "Another night at work. Let me get through this."

The drive to work had calmed her. She felt composed and more like herself by the time she got to the lab. Quickly dropping her things in the locker room, she proceeded to the break room where she knew the others would be by then.

Seeing Greg, their quirky lab tech, who looked like he was cracking a joke to Nick brought a smile to her mouth. She had forgotten to thank him for the vegetable salad he had bought for her the previous day. She decided to do something about it tonight.

"Hey." She greeted Nick with a nod, Catherine with a smile and then laced her arm with Greg's. Greg whipped his head around to turn to Sara and raise an eyebrow towards the arm linked to his.

"Hey back to ya." Greg said sweetly, grinning from ear to ear. Nick threw a look at Catherine's direction and she in turn gave a surprised look at Sara.

"You seem to be in a chipper mood. Something going on that we should know about?" Catherine said after receiving only a smile back from Sara.

"Nope, nothing worth reporting. Just wanted to thank Greg here for being so thoughtful and buying me that salad yesterday." She smiled at Greg, causing the young man's smile to grow bigger and a slight flush to color his face. "Thanks Greg, I owe you one. I didn't even know I was hungry 'til you came in with that salad!"

A shy "You're welcome" came from Greg who now was growing even more flushed.

"You better be careful, you don't want to get Greg all flustered." She indicated Greg's flushed state and their linked arms. "We might need him operational today."

Nick snorted, Greg threw a devilish grin at Catherine and then again turned his attention to Sara. "So, you want to grab something during break time?" Greg ventured slowly.

For the first time in weeks, Sara smiled inside as well as outside and said, "Yes Greg, I would like to. Meet you there later?" The incredulous look that came from Nick, Catherine and Greg was more than she could bear. A laugh escaped her lips and a high-pitched "What?" came with it.

"What is what?" came a voice from behind her. Sara turned around to find Grissom standing there eyeing the loose way her arm was still linked to Greg.


	3. Chapter III

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I am still uncertain as to what title I'm going to use for this fic. Please read and reviews will be much appreciated. It's all about Sara and Grissom here. :D

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CHAPTER III

Sara quickly pulled her arm from Greg and he too, dropped his arm to his side. Sara got that familiar tingling feeling whenever Grissom's around and quickly looked away. She cleared her throat and walked to seat beside Catherine and settled there.

"Greg..." Grissom spoke to the lab technician. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere, working?"

"Right..." Greg good-naturedly joked. "Right you are , Grissom. So I shall take my exit. Sara..." He looked over to her direction and said, "I shall see you at break time?"

Sara looked up to his face, a wide smile once again spreading on her face and said, "Yep, meet you there."

With his answer in tow, Greg left the the CSI's and their supervisor looking with a furrowed brow at Sara. Sara didn't meet Grissom's eyes. She wanted to avoid it. She didn't want to be left deciphering what that look meant. God knows she had overdone deciphering what little things he did to her meant.

"Okaaaaay." Catherine sliced through the silence that followed Greg's exit. "Boss, what have you got for us?"

Grissom ignored Catherine's question and said, "Where's Warrick?"

"Right here." Warrick had quickened his step when he saw that the others were already in the break room. He quickly took a seat next to Nick, gave nods to him and Catherine and stared at Sara who was looking everywhere but up, greeted her with a "Hey Sar".

She looked at him then, eyes registering his presence and she smiled. She said nothing but there was a warmth in her smile that made Warrick think that her singing lightened her mood. He smiled back at her and he continued to stare at her even after she had looked away.

"Catherine, you're working with me on this baby case. Baby left inside the car, died due to intensity of heat and prolonged exposure to it inside the vehicle." Grissom started with the case assignments. "Nick and Sara, you have a DB who washed ashore", continued Grissom passing on the assignment card to Nick. "Warrick, you're on your own and you have your own DB".

Grissom had stretched out his hand to hand the assignment card to Warrick but he was still looking at Sara. "Warrick, are you with us?" Grissom inquired, looking from Warrick to Sara's bowed head. "Warrick?"

Snapping out of it, Warrick turned unfocused eyes on Grissom, saw that he was handing him something, he quickly stood halfway from his seat to grab the piece of paper. "Umm, yeah, sure I am."

Apparently that didn't suit Grissom as he still kept on staring at him and then back to Sara who now was starting to get ready to leave the break room with Nick.

Warrick stood at full length now and looked Grissom straight in the eye. "Are we done?", he asked. It came out more abruptly and curt than what he intended. Grissom raised his right eyebrow and answered "Yes, we're done."

Everybody then started moving out of the break room. Warrick caught up with Catherine who was walking towards the locker room.

"Hey Cath!", he called after her. Catherine stopped on her tracks, turned around and gave him a nod. When he reached her side, he cocked his head to the side and asked, "What was that all about in there?"

Catherine darted a look towards the break room, checking that nobody was near and said, "Which 'thing' do you mean? Greg short of asking Sara on a date and her saying yes, Grissom's foul mood, Sara's eyes everywhere except Grissom or you staring at Sara?" She had sounded just a tad jealous on the last part.

A smile started appearing on Warrick's face. "Sometime today, you'll explain the other things, but right I'll go for the Greg and Sara part."

Catherine snorted and leaned closer saying, "I don't know what's up with Sara but she came into the break room all smiles and then links her arm with Greg, thanks him for some salad he bought her yesterday. You know Greg, blushes like a schoolboy and then asks her to spend break time with him and she says yes!"

"No way!" Warrick sounded even more surprised to himself.

"Way..." Catherine continued. "So, there we were, Nick and I with our mouths open and Grissom walks in and sees the linked arms!"

"I don't need to know the rest. I can tell what Grissom did after that." Warrick said, filling in the blanks. "Maybe I can explain the whole Sara-mood though."

Catherine snickered. "You can try!"

"I will." Warrick took Catherine by the elbow and dragged her inside the locker room. "Cath, have you ever noticed Sara singing to herself or maybe hum to herself?"

"Yeah, I've heard her so many times do that. Sometimes I even catch her sing a whole line or two." Catherine said matter-of-factly. "Why?"

"I've heard her hum myself. I just never thought she had a great voice." Warrick then continued on and told Catherine the scene he had witnessed inside the bar earlier. He could tell he had Catherine's attention by the way her mouth formed a bigger "O" with surprise.

"I'm telling you Cath, she was astounding." Warrick finished his story. "Her voice captured every single person in that audience and she was so emotional."

"Wow!" Catherine said, shaking her head. "I don't even need to say who those kind of songs are for."

"You can say that again." Warrick rolled his eyes. "What's going on with those now?"

Catherine gave out another snicker. "Man, I don't know. I've tried my best to get them together. Grissom really needs to get of his ass. I can't believe he still hasn't figured this out!"

"Psh!" Warrick exclaimed. "That guy wouldn't know what to do even if Sara fell right on his lap! Anyway, Cath, you gotta come with me the next time. You have to witness this. We don't need to tell her now, but you just gotta see it. She almost made me cry!"

"Who made who cry?" Grissom interrupted their conversation from the locker room door. Warrick and Catherine snapped their heads towards him like guilty children. "Catherine, we are running late. We need to go."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll meet you outside in a few", came Catherine's answer. As soon as Grissom moved out of hearing range she looked at Warrick saying, "Okay, I'm with you. When do we go see her perform?"

"I asked the bar people before I left and they said she usually comes in on Tuesdays and Fridays. So I guess we're set for Friday."

"Okay, remind me when it's time. I need to go before Gruesome Grissom starts to ask questions. Not that he already won't, what with the whole Greg and Sara thing." She winked, grabbed her bag and hurriedly left to meet Grissom.

Warrick sighed, walked slowly out of the locker room and started reading the details of the case assigned to him.


	4. Chapter IV

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I've finally come up with a title for the fic. It's called 'It was Beautiful'. The title is off a song that I will be using within the next chapters. It's all about Sara and Grissom here. :D

Thank you so much for all the reviews. I read them and I take them into consideration. They are truly appreciated!

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CHAPTER IV

"So, care to tell me what that was all about back there?" Nick broke the silence between him and Sara when they were on their way to their crime scene.

Sara looked away from the window to look at his profile. "What do you mean?"

"You know..." Nick took his eyes off the road for a second to look at her. "The whole Greg thing. I believe I haven't seen Greg break out into such a big smile before. That sure did look scary!"

Sara just gave a small chuckle and shook her head.

"Look, I'm really happy that you're up and smiling again. I've been growing really worried about you these past few weeks."

"Nick, I'm okay. There is no reason for you to be worried at all." Sara protested. "I don't know why everyone's is so concerned for me all of a sudden! Really, I'm perfectly okay."

"Yeah, I've heard that a million times." Nick laughed it off. "So? Will you tell me why you're going out on a date, well, semi-date with Greg?"

"A date with Greg?" Sara coughed. "I'm not going on a date with Greg! It's just break time in the same room with Greg. What's wrong with that?"

"Well" Nick cleared his throat. "Could it be the fact that he must have asked you a gazillion times but you never said yes and now out of the blue you tell him like it's the most natural thing in the world?"

"Okay, I'll admit, I might have put a bit too much enthusiasm into the acceptance, but I was actually, really glad about it." Sara explained as much as she could. "I was really touched about the salad yesterday. You know how he always likes to flirt, but yesterday he didn't. He simply just left the salad for me without the jokes."

"Really?" Nick was shaking his head. "That must have taken all of Greg's strength to stay away from you."

"Yeah?" Sara raised one of her eyebrows, "Well, whether he had stayed or gone, I wouldn't have said much to him anyway. It must have been 30 minutes or so before I saw what he had left. I was deep into work."

Nick snorted. "Man, then how do you know he just gave you the salad and left? For all you know he could have been standing there for 15 minutes and decided to give up since you were ignoring him."

"Hmm..." Sara wondered, "You may have a point there, though I'm sure I would have at least looked at him if he cracked one of his jokes on me yesterday. I was a in a bit of a mood then."

"A bit?" Nick teased. "You think you know people, but they can still surprise you."

"Hey!" Sara said in mock-anger.

This time Nick gave a much louder laugh. "Well, it's true! You've been so ... moody and detached lately. Really, Sar, are you alright?"

Sara threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "Yes! For the last time, I'm fine... Okay … I have been pretty down the past month or so, but I'm starting to grow out of it. I've been doing something about it! There! Is that enough Mr. Investigator?"

"Hey, I'm just worried as all!" Nick said sincerely. "So don't bite!"

"I never do Nicky. I never do!" came Sara's amused response.

"Did you see that look on Grissom's face though?" Nick laughed. "I mean, shouldn't he be used to all of Greg's quirks by now?"

Sara tensed suddenly. The last thing she wanted to discuss was Grissom. It took her a full minute before she finally replied with, "Yeah well, Grissom is Grissom."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Nick could sense that he had done wrong by bringing up Grissom's name. Sara had been clammed up about Grissom for weeks now. Where she used to joke about him or around him, she now finds some excuse not to interact with him. This mystery has plagued the other CSI's as well. They couldn't figure out what went wrong this time. Did it have anything to do with Grissom rejecting Sara's invitation for dinner?

Taking a quick look at her profile, he thought to himself. "Man Grissom, you screwed this one up big time!"

The silence that followed their short conversation stretched out for a couple of minutes until Nick heard Sara softly humming. He wasn't familiar with the tune but to his ears, it sounded soothing. They spent the rest of the journey to their crime scene that way. Sometimes he'd hear Sara sing out a line, but she mostly hummed to herself.

Nick would catch himself smiling from time to time.

To take her thoughts away from Grissom, Sara started to hum to the tune of the song she performed earlier. In her mind she was already picking out a song to do on Friday.

Marty, the bar owner, had asked if she could come by Tuesdays and Fridays to fill in one of the empty slots. She easily accepted the offer seeing as it would just be a couple of blocks away from work and it would certainly be a good distraction.

Sara never really thought her voice was good. But hearing somebody else say that she was actually better than good made her blush. She never stayed long on stage to see how the audience would react to her performance. When she sang, it wasn't for the audience. It was for herself.

Her voice was smooth, so she normally leaned towards Ballad songs. She also liked the way she was able to bring out her emotions through the songs. She always found it hard to express emotion, singing made her feel better.

It didn't take too long for them to get to their scene. Sara, who was still thinking about singing when Nick parked the car, shook her head slightly and got herself into Crime Scene mode.

"Okay." Nick said, getting out of his seat and taking out his field kit. "Time to go to work. Let's see what we have for today."


	5. Chapter V

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I've finally come up with a title for the fic. It's called 'It was Beautiful'. The title is off a song that I will be using within the next chapters. It's all about Sara and Grissom here. :D

Another short one. But don't worry, I'm adding the next chapter with this update as well! ;D

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CHAPTER V

"What were you and Warrick whispering about back at the locker room?" Grissom broke through Catherine's thoughts.

"Wha.." Catherine looked at Grissom. "Oh, you mean that back there? We were just agreeing on some plans for Friday before shift." Catherine explained and added "Well, that's mostly the truth anyway", to herself.

"Are you two..." Grissom looked at Catherine for a second and seeing Catherine's innocent look added, "involved?"

"Hmm... involved..." Catherine let the word roll over her tongue. She looked at Grissom to find half a frown on his brow. "If we were, have you got anything against it?"

Grissom whipped his head to stare at Catherine's raised eyebrow. "No... I'm not. If you two are involved... I would be happy for both of you."

"Really," Catherine affected a shocked look. "Well, I'd say I'm surprised. Warrick and I aren't involved, by the way... Well, not yet anyway," Catherine added with a smile.

Grissom shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "Cath, you never cease to amaze me, you know that?"

"Yeah, well, I'm irresistible that way," Catherine came back, paused and then added in a more serious voice, "So, what about you? Have you done anything about the whole 'Sara' thing?"

"I... don't know what you mean," Grissom said, confused.

"God, Gil!" she said in exasperation. "Sometimes, you try me too hard!"

"What?" Grissom slowed the vehicle for a second to look at her, "What do you mean?"

"S-A-R-A" Catherine was short of hand spelling it out to him. "You know, that brunette who works with you. The one who's walking like a zombie these days? The one who suddenly shuts down everytime you walk within 20 feet of her?"

"What about Sara, Catherine?" Grissom's voice contained a hint of irritation. "You know how she is! She never talks about what the hell is happening with her. And... she doesn't shut down when I am around."

"Boy! You pride yourself for seeing the smallest evidence of a crime," Catherine shook her head, "yet you don't see what's really happening with her, do you?"

"Why is it that I always get these talks whenever Sara's in one of her moods?"

"She isn't in one of her moods, Griss! She's been like this for weeks!" Catherine couldn't keep her voice from rising slightly. She couldn't, for the life of her, understand why Grissom is still in denial about the way he felt for Sara. "Don't tell me you have not seen how pale she has become?"

Grissom tried to answer her question, but Catherine just went on saying, "Or the fact that she doesn't spend breakfast with us no more? Have you not noticed how much time she spends looking off to space in the locker room? How long has it been since she laughed... or ... or smiled at a joke?"

"Well, she seemed okay enough this morning with Greg?" Grissom's voice hasn't lost the irritation in it, but it seemed to have been tinted with a bit of jealousy to Catherine's ears.

"Well, well, do I detect jealousy there?"

"Wha...?" scoffed Grissom, "you're kidding right? Why would I be jealous of Greg or be jealous in the first place?"

"Riiigggghhttt..." dragged Catherine. "You know, someone once said 'Denial ain't just a river in Egypt'."

"Funny, Cath. You're really funny."

"C'mon!" Catherine let out a small laugh. "You know you're jealous," she pointed a finger at Grissom, "and stop denying it!" After receiving a grunt from Grissom, Catherine just continued on saying, "I'll have you know that she actually said yes to spending break time with Greg."

"Well, isn't food better eaten with a friend?" Grissom shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. I... I was just surprised. Y'know, she never said yes to his other invitations before. I'm starting to think she's given up." Catherine's voice was now very serious.

"Given up? Given up what?"

"You know, one of these days, you'll realize that you are taking forever. Sometimes, I don't know what's going on in that bug-infested mind of yours."

"Taking me forever...?" Grissom slowed down again to stare at her for a short while. "Cath, what the hell are you going on about?"

Catherine took a deep breath. "Gil, we know about the dinner invitation. I think the walls in the lab have ears. Why couldn't you just say 'yes' to a dinner? The world is not going to end if you, for once, dropped the 'supervisor' facade and have dinner with Sara."

"Cath," Grissom exhaled deeply, "this conversation stops now."

"No, this is not over Gil. You can't just drop it like that..."

"No! I meant it. We can't talk about this right now," before Catherine could protest, he brought her attention to what was in front of them. "We are at our crime scene."


	6. Chapter VI

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I've finally come up with a title for the fic. It's called 'It was Beautiful'. The title is off a song that I will be using within the next chapters. It's all about Sara and Grissom here. :D

As promised, here's the attached Chapter 6 to the previous chapter. It should take a day or two for me to get another chapter done. Oh, so many things to do! :D

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CHAPTER VI

Sara passed the doors to the lab, grateful for the cool air that met her. It had been a very hot day and she was dying for some refreshments. She needed to drop her things off unto her locker first though. On the way there, she remembered that she had promised to spend break with Greg. So, instead of heading straight to the locker room, she directed her steps towards the DNA lab.

She found Greg sitting, hunched over some teen magazine with his back to the door. She found herself smiling at Greg's oddness and broke the silence by saying 'Hey Greg!'

Greg casually tried to hide his magazine beneath his desk, turned around and gave Sara an almost childish smile. "Hey Sar! What's up?"

Sara let out a small chuckle and said, "That's ok Greg," pointing to the hidden magazine. "I'm just glad it isn't teenage porn this time!" She stepped inside the lab, letting her gaze fall unto the different things that were on Greg's table. "So, you busy?"

"Nope, I'm bored out of my mind," Greg shook his head. "Why do you think I'm re-reading this magazine for the umpteenth time? How about you?"

Sara gave a small laugh. "I've just gotten back from our scene with Nick. I'm still waiting for Doc Robbins to finish so we can start examining our DB. Hey, why don't you and I go grab that break we agreed on?" The last bit was asked carefully. She didn't want to lead the younger man on, but she could definitely use some friendly conversation. She wanted a conversation that didn't involve people wondering about her health and her personal issues. And she was sure that with Greg, those wouldn't come up ever. And with luck, she wouldn't even have to talk much.

"I say it's the best idea I've heard so far, today!" Greg rejoiced, moving quickly out of his seat.

Sara had already started to go out of the lab but leaned back in to say, "And Greg, just so you know, this isn't a date."

"Awww, you break my heart." Greg feigned, placing his hands on his chest. "And here I thought we were getting married today!"

"Yeah right, Greg. Keep dreaming." Sara laughed. "Listen, I need to drop a couple of things by the locker room, I'll meet you in the break room in a few."

Without waiting for a response, she bee lined towards her initial destination.

Meanwhile, the car that carried Grissom and Catherine back from their own crime scene arrived at the Crime lab parking lot. Going in opposite directions upon entering the lab, Grissom started towards his office.

Upon entering his office, he quickly dropped off his things on top of his table, not bothering to put them where they should be and then headed right out. Directing his steps towards the DNA lab, he didn't notice that the room was empty until he found a post-it note on top of Greg's desk that said, "Even geniuses need breaks too. I'll see you in a few!"

Grissom couldn't help but wonder if Greg and Sara were at this moment enjoying themselves in the break room. As far as he knew, and from what Catherine told him, they had agreed to do just that. It was then that he felt a small pang of jealousy.

He knew that he shouldn't be feeling jealous. It was his choice to distance himself from Sara. He didn't want to get involved, no matter how much part of him wanted to be so. What he hadn't realized was, by putting that distance between them it would also create a rift in their friendship - relationship, or whatever he had labeled it. That wasn't his intention. He loved every single minute he spent with Sara. Not only did she challenge him intellectually, she made his heart pound a little quicker. He had admitted a long time ago that he was attracted to her. He just didn't think it was a good idea to get involved. A million reasons ran through his mind why they shouldn't be. There were times when he wished those reasons would just fall away.

"You know, Greg won't just pop out of thin air even if you stare at his desk long enough." A voice cut through Grissom's musings.

Grissom raised his head slowly and looked at Hodges who was leaning against the lab door.

Hodges stood straight, putting both hands inside his lab coat pockets, sneered and said, "He's in the break room with Sara. You know, I think that guy has already taken enough prolonged breaks. You should really have a talk with him."

"Hodges, have you seen the house psychologist yet?" came Grissom's sarcastic remark. Grissom's lip curled in a semi-smile seeing that he got the right reaction from Hodges. The lab tech's sneer suddenly disappeared and he turned towards wherever he was going to before he found Grissom standing there.

Grateful that the Hodges left, he took his time walking towards the break room, in search of Greg, or at least that's what he kept telling himself.

Sara was now only half-listening to Greg's animated conversation. She had been right. She didn't need to talk much. A little coffee and Greg's stories were now endless. The conversation had gone from "Sara, you're looking too pale, you really could use a tan," to "I remember my trip to Maui, we saw these babes..." to "I think you'd really look hot in a bikini".

"Ooookaaayyy..." Sara interjected, "I didn't mind the whole 'babe' stories, but I don't think the words 'Sara' and 'in a bikini' should be used here. Neither is it appropriate."

"Why so uptight, Sar?" Greg laughed. "I bet you, you'd have all the lab techs here come a 'runnin. And believe me, I'd be first in line!"

Sara pretended to swat a fly in front of her to avoid looking at Greg's childish grin and rolled her eyes.

"C'mon really! Have you ever worn one? I bet you'd look like a million bucks, what with your impossibly long legs!" Greg motioned towards Sara's leg underneath the table.

"I don't think discussing Sara's 'impossibly long legs' is appropriate conversation inside the lab Greg."

Both Greg and Sara's heads shot up to see Grissom standing at the door. While Greg found this amusing and smiled even wider, Sara felt herself flush and brought her coffee cup to her lips to hide her face.

"Hey Griss!" Greg enthusiastically greeted, apparently not registering the dark look that Grissom was giving him. "I'm on a break, did you need something?"

Grissom placed the plastic wrapped evidence on the table and slid it to Greg. "Break time's officially over. I need you to process this A.S.A.P."

"Ok, right." Greg stood up from his chair, brought his cup to the sink to quickly wash it. In the time it took him to do all this, Grissom just stood there looking at Sara's bent head. She hadn't looked up from her coffee cup.

"Well, I'm going to do this now," Greg picked up the wrapped evidence, looked at Sara saying, "Sar, great to have had coffee with you, I'll see you later."

Greg then left the room which left Grissom still staring at Sara's head and wondering what could possibly be so intriguing with her coffee cup.


	7. Chapter VII

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Next chapter gets Sara singing again! Let's try two songs this time.

---------------------------

CHAPTER VII

"Good coffee?" Grissom asked after he could no longer stand the silence that settled after Greg's absence.

"Good enough. Got me through Greg's Maui stories." Sara looked at him and gave him a weak smile, a ghost of the smile that he loved so much.

"Well, at least she's talking to me." Grissom told himself silently. He eased himself into the chair that was opposite hers.

"How's your case progressing?" He didn't exactly know what topic to discuss with her. All he knew that he wanted to soak up some time with Sara. Asking about the case was his cover, this way he could always say it was supervisory concern.

"Nick and I are still waiting for Doc Robbins for our prelim," Sara answered him in a voice same as his, all business. "Looks like suspicious circs to me though."

Grissom continued to stare at her. He noted the slump of her shoulders, the way her whole demeanor looked resigned. "Sara... How have you been?"

Sara was shocked about the sudden change of topic. Her head shot up and her eyes met his. It took a while for her brain to process the question and when she found her voice, she had to control it to keep it from breaking.

"I'm ... I'm fine," she replied, though still confused as to his concern, or was it worry? If she knew Grissom at all, it would be the latter. Nevertheless, she needed to ask. "Why the question?"

"Nothing ... " Grissom said taking off his glasses and refocused his gaze back on her face. "I ... I just haven't talked to you in a while."

"Griss, you always talk to me." Sara gave him another smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm here every single time you hand out assignments, remember? And plus, there's always the case reviews and reports."

"I didn't mean that..." He didn't know how to explain the magnitude of how he missed just being with her. His wretched plan to stay at a distance was making things harder instead of simpler. "I meant as friends."

"Oh." was all that came out of Sara's mouth. She didn't add anything. She couldn't understand why he was doing all this. She knew the reason for the coldness that settled between them after the infamous 'dinner invitation'. She was hurt at how he had been deliberately avoiding her for the past weeks. And now this? She absolutely didn't know what game he was playing at, and frankly it angered her a little.

Before they could continue their conversation, the sound of Sara's beeper interrupted the now uncomfortable air. Sara quickly pulled it up to read the message, looked at Grissom one more time and said, "That was Nick, Doc Robbins is now ready for us. Umm... I'm gonna go and join them right now. I'll see you later."

All Grissom could do was nod and put his glasses back on. Sara was out of her chair in seconds and headed for the door running into Catherine.

"Hey, where's the fire?" Catherine asked, holding on to Sara to steady herself.

"Nick and Doc Robbins, time for our DB." Sara said over her shoulder.

"What did you do to her now?" Catherine asked, stepping inside the break room and occupying one of the chairs.

"I didn't do anything to her, Catherine." Grissom bit back in an angry tone. "As she said, she's going down to Doc Robbins for her DB's prelim."

"Okay, what crawled up your ass this time?" Catherine eyed him suspiciously. "And don't say it's nothing. I can see your nostrils flare."

Despite his slight anger, Catherine's last remark made him smile. Upon seeing Grissom's mood lifting, Catherine smiled at him as well.

"Tell me, what happened?" Catherine urged on.

"Nothing really happened, I just overheard a part of her conversation with Greg that I thought wasn't appropriate." Grissom shrugged. "And from the way she was looking, I think she didn't like that conversation anyway."

"Why? What were they talking about?" Catherine leaned both elbows on top of the table.

"Well, Greg was talking about her legs and even described it as 'impossibly long'." Grissom smirked.

"Ahhhh... " Catherine leaned back in her chair. "Now, I see. You want to be the only person to imagine Sara's legs, is that it?"

"Wha...?" Grissom was shocked. Catherine had raised one of her eyebrows and was looking at him with a sadistic smile on her lips. "That's not true. I just meant that ... that kind of conversation isn't appropriate around the lab."

"So you've imagined her legs?" Catherine was dauntless.

"I'm not rising to your bait, Catherine." Grissom shook his head, looking at the space behind Catherine's head, trying hard not to imagine Sara's legs.

"C'mon, don't tell me you haven't imagined her legs entangled with yours..." Catherine knew she was pushing Grissom's buttons. She could clearly see him flush a shade of red darker by the second.

"That's enough!" Grissom's voice came out as a growl. "I am not going to stay here and listen to you talk like this. Grow up Catherine."

"I am grown up Gil." Catherine simply replied. "It's you who keeps on acting like a child around Sara by denying how you feel about her."

"I will be in my office." Grissom stood up from his seat, turned to walk out.

"Gil," Catherine called, this time, her voice was soft. "You gotta stop this. Things are not THAT complicated."

"Let me know when you have something on our case." was all Grissom said and then he quickly left the break room. He was feeling the beginnings of a headache.

Was Catherine right? Was he simply making things complicated by pushing Sara away? These thoughts ran through Grissom's mind over and over. One part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind and give it a try, the other kept telling him that he simply couldn't do it. It was wrong ... is it really? The truth of the matter was that he was scared at how Sara could affect him so.

His mind then turned towards her legs. It didn't get past Grissom how wonderfully long her legs were. And Catherine was right, there were nights when all he could think about were her legs. Grissom shook his head and mumbled to himself, probably scaring one of the people he crossed paths with along the way to his office.

Opening the door to his office, Grissom had Catherine to thank for all the images of Sara's legs. "This is certainly not the kind of thoughts I should be having at work."


	8. Chapter VIII

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Songs used in this chapter are : "Dreaming of You" by Selena and "Tattooed on my mind" by D'Sound.

And a very Merry Christmas to all! ;D

---------------------------

CHAPTER VIII

"I see why Sara should pick this place." Catherine said to Warrick's ear. They were seated at the far end of the bar at Tikirocks. Upon entering the bar, they chose the spot where the lights didn't shine too well. They haven't told Sara they were coming to see her perform, not that she knew that they've found her out.

"Why do you say that?" Warrick replied.

"Well, look around you. For a bar, this place doesn't sit much people. Look at the audience area. I'd say they only seat 15 to 20 people." Catherine pointed out to the space directly in front of the small stage. Warrick nodded at her assessment.

"What'ya people getting?" asked the bartender. Warrick and Catherine looked at one another.

"Well, last time I was here I got a beer and working that off caused me to be late for assignments, don't want to do that again." Warrick told Catherine. He then faced the bartender and ordered two glasses of water.

The bartender's right eyebrow went up and he gave them a questioning look.

"We're on the clock. We're just here to see a friend sing." Catherine explained their choice. That didn't impress the bartender, although he later returned with their glasses of water.

"I'm so excited to see her sing. She any good?" Catherine was feeling giddy and it didn't help that Warrick only nodded and didn't feel the need to explain things.

A young woman was on the stage right now. Catherine thought that she had a lovely solid voice. She looked just around Sara's age and was singing the acoustic version of some current pop song.

Catherine and Warrick didn't have to wait long for Sara's turn on the stage. As she had done the previous time, she wore her work clothes, only she had her hair pulled back into a ponytail tonight. She carried a lean stool on to the small stage and settled herself.

"How are you guys doing?" Sara's voice was low, almost shy. There were a murmur of responses. Sara gave a signal over at the bar's band.

Catherine held her breath as the intro to her song was played by the band. It was a slow song and she saw Sara close her eyes, probably to take a steadying breath.

_Late at night when all the world is sleeping,_

_I stay up and think of you._

_And I wish on a star that somewhere you are_

_Thinking of me too_

Warrick looked at Catherine with his brow lifted that seemed to say, "See! I told you she was good!" Catherine's eyes just grew wide as her reponse. She had no words to say. Sara had an amazing voice. Sure, she had known that for a long time, but this was different. This was singing in front of an audience and she was just lovely.

_Coz I'm dreaming of you tonight_

_Till tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight_

_And there's no where in the world, I'd rather be_

_Than here in my room_

_Dreaming about you and me_

Catherine tugged at Warrick's arm and formed a "wow!" with her mouth. Warrick simply smiled and nodded. They knew and they were proud for Sara. They saw her take another deep breath before continuing.

_Wonder if you ever see me _

_And I wonder if you know I'm there_

_If you looked in my eyes_

_Woul you see what's inside?_

_Would you even care?_

_I just want to hold you close_

_But so far, all I have are dreams of you_

_So I wait for the day_

_The courage to say how much I love you._

_Yes, I do._

_I'll be dreaming of you tonight_

_Till tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight_

_And there's no where in the world, I'd rather be_

_Than here in my room_

_Dreaming about you and me_

By this time, Catherine could feel herself drawn to Sara as much as the rest of the crowd. What she and Warrick knew above the rest of the people at the bar was the story behind her song. Catherine shook her head slowly. She couldn't believe Grissom could let this Sara go. "If only he'd witness this." Catherine thought to herself.

As Sara finished her song, applause broke around the bar. Pride swelled in Warrick and Catherine's heart for Sara. She was absolutely wonderful. Warrick turned to tell Catherine that they could go now, seeing as the last time, she only sang one song. But before he could utter the words, Sara's voice sounded once again.

"Well, I'm feeling generous tonight," she teased and gathered some good-humoured replies, "So I'm going to sing you guys one more song."

More applause broke from the crowds and this time Catherine and Warrick joined in. Everyone went silent as the band started playing.

_Maybe you'll soon, forget about all_

_Or maybe you'll miss it like I do_

_One thing's for sure, I'm on a cloud_

_Spend too much time thinking of you._

_And I can't get you out of my dreams_

_Now I know you're the dangerous kind_

_And your smile is tattooed on my mind_

_And I can't get you out of my dreams._

"I like this side of Sara!" Catherine once again leaned into Warrick's ear to whisper. "She's just soo...."

"Vulnerable?" Warrick finished it for her. Catherine nodded, signalling that was exactly the word she would have chosen. "Yeah, me too. We don't get to see this side of her often. I just wish Grissom could see this!"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly!" Catherine said, "You think we could ... you know..." hinting towards letting Grissom witness this and find out just how much he's missing.

"Naaah, I don't think we should do that Cath. When and if Grissom finally decides to step out of his comfort zone, maybe, but I don't think we should push him." Warrick said, looking away from Catherine and looked at Sara. "I just wish there was something we could do to make her happy again." Catherine nodded wordlessly.

_It should you be, that's how I want it to be_

_Tell me you feel the same way_

Catherine and Warrick remained silent for the rest of the song. Neither of them had words to say. They just let Sara's voice float around them. Perhaps they were feeling the song so much that they didn't realize that Warrick was now holding Catherine's hand.

_Yesterday, I was feeling sad_

_All I do today is try to be brave_

_And no melody, can seem to soothe my mind_

_Now I curse you for being so sweet and so kind._

_And I can't get you out of my dreams_

_Now I know you're the dangerous kind_

_And your face is tattooed on my mind_

_And I can't get you out of my dreams._

Once again, a large number of applause broke out after Sara finished singing. She gave the audience a quick smile and left the stage.

Meanwhile, Warrick and Catherine broke out of their own reverie and looked down to see their fingers entwined. Catherine smiled and looked at Warrick. As a reply, he squeezed her hand to show her that it was alright and that it was what he had wanted to do.

That was how they had left the bar for work ... holding hands, fingers still entwined.


	9. Chapter IX

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Thought some flashback would be good. :D

---------------------------

CHAPTER IX

Driving the short distance to the lab Sara's thoughts, despite willing herself not to, turned towards Grissom. Her heart constricted at just the mere thought of him.

It was moments like this, when her mind was unoccupied by either work or other things, that she had come to hate. Lately, there was only one scene that kept running through her mind.

_"No." Grissom said, sounding like he was joking. It was his tone that made Sara think he considered her dinner invitation jokingly, so she asked again. Saying that they should just do it and see what happens._

_Although the words that followed came out in a calm voice, her insides were really screaming, "Please, Grissom. Just have dinner with me!"_

_It was then that she realized that Grissom wasn't joking. His facial expression told Sara that he hadn't expected this. Grissom closed his eyes and let out a long sigh that sounded almost irritated to Sara's ears. She had made a complete fool of herself! _

_What was he saying? The words, "I don't know what to do about 'this'" bounced around in her head. She felt her body go numb. The smile that was playing on her lips vanished and she felt her face harden. In slight anger, she told him something that would hopefully have him thinking about 'this'._

_Afraid that things would get more worse, she turned around and walked out without a single backward glance. Half of her wanted Grissom to follow her, to make things better, but half of her didn't. Her feet brought her to her car and there, enveloped by her now aching heart, she no longer could hold her tears at bay. She didn't know how long she had sat there, staring at the steering wheel, by the time she snapped out of her reverie, her face was all blotched up with her tears._

_A frown creased her forehead. She couldn't understand what had just happened. She thought there was something between her and Grissom ... no, cross that, she felt it. Was it all one-sided? Sara shook her head. No, she knew that Grissom felt something, otherwise, what was all that flirting for? Oh God, was I imagining it? Have I been reading all the signs wrongly?_

_The thought of this made her shiver and more tears to spring to her eyes. Too many questions were running through her mind now, though no answers came. No answers came, only pain and numbness surrounding her heavy heart. She angrily wiped her tears away, mad at herself allowing things to get to this and deluding herself that Grissom cared._

_Just that instant, she saw Grissom emerge from the building. Not wanting to have him see her at this state, she quickly started up her vehicle, pulled out of the parking lot and sped away._

Sara let out a small and heavy sigh. Till this day, she still couldn't figure out what had happened that night. She tried to forget that night ever happened, God knows she had. But things were never the same after that. They were both hell-bent on staying away from each other as possible. There were times when she missed his company, but she knew it was hopeless. She would only end up reading more into the things he'd do. She was better off staying away, she'd move on faster that way.

"That's what I keep telling myself," Sara thought, a pathetic smile coming to her lips.

"I wonder if he misses me," the question naturally came to mind. Grissom had tried to chat her up a couple of times. I'm just being silly again. He's worried about my performance. These days, he's only my supervisor. Friends? Those days are now so distant.

A bitter laugh escaped her. For someone who was moving on she thought a lot of Grissom.

Arriving shortly at the lab, she easily parked her car and using the rearview mirror, checked that the few tears she had shed remembering a memory didn't show. Putting on a nonchalant face, she put a quickness to her pace, dropped all her stuff by the locker rooms and joined her friends at the break room.

The break room was witness to Nick laughing at something Greg had been relating to him. Warrick and Catherine on the other hand were seated at the end of the table and were talking in low voices.

Walking up to the doorway, she caught the tail end of Greg and Nick's conversation.

"... Chu called himself Chuck, Bu called himself Buck, unfortunately, Fu had to go back to China," Greg finished off his joke grinning at Nick. He was pleased to have elicited a laugh from Nick with his joke.

"That's a good one Greggo." Nick said, laughing heartily, "Good one."

"Thanks!" Greg grinned, "I'm just glad that you got it the first time around. I must have repeated it 3 times to dayshift before they actually got that joke!"

"That's because they have mush for brains, Greg." Sara butted into their conversation. "You shouldn't even bother telling them these kinds of jokes. You'll only overwork their brains."

"Awww, that wit of yours is one of the many reasons I'm crazy about you." Greg's attention was now with Sara.

"Awww," Sara mimicked, "Much as I am flattered by that, Greg, you crazy for me, is not a good thing."

Sara and Greg's little banter had now captured the attention of everyone else in the room. They all smiled at Sara's last comment.

"Whoa! Shut down again Greggo," Warrick laughed pointing an almost accusing finger at Greg. "You know, if I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead."

"Yeah, I keep telling my heart that," Greg said trying to look as serious as he can.

"Really? You have a heart?" Sara asked jokingly, resting her hip by the doorframe.

"Oh yes! And it beats wildly for you!" Greg smiled and moved to stand beside Sara.

"Greg," Catherine's voice sounded for the first time, "your sweetness might attract that ants that are in Grissom's office. Besides, Sara's heart is already spoken for."

All eyes in the room grew wide and turned towards the blonde CSI. Sara's eyes were the widest and were the most piercing.

"What did you say?" Sara's words were labored and were full of shock.

"You heard me perfectly," Catherine smiled innocently. "Don't think we haven't seen the signs."

"Signs?" Sara choked, "What signs are you talking about?"

"Yeah Cath, what signs?" Greg had to add. He wasn't just going to stand by and let this go.

"Cath, what are you trying to do?" Warrick leaned over to her to whisper so no one could hear.

Catherine ignored Warrick's question and continued to stare at Sara with a very knowing smile. The questions hung in the air, electricity building up. Nobody dared to speak or comment on the silence either.

After a significant amount of time and silence, Sara broke her eye contact with Catherine, acknowledging that Catherine was indeed right about the state of her heart. Sara was hoping though that Catherine didn't know it was Grissom.

Sara huffed and Catherine's smile grew wider at the sight of the younger woman's resignation. Her defeat though, didn't stop the uncomfortable silence between the five room occupants.

No, the silence was broken by Grissom's voice coming from behind Sara's head saying, "Sara... I need to get inside the break room. But with you and Greg here, that's hardly possible."

Sara's leaning form stiffened. Greg had quickly moved away from the doorframe but she still occupied most of the passage way.

She calmly straightened herself and moved inside the room to stand anywhere except where she originally was.

Grissom nodded in her direction, looked at everyone's silent demeanor and said, "So... what did I miss?".


	10. Chapter X

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Thanks for the continuing flow of reviews. They are great and a source of inspiration.

---------------------------

CHAPTER X

"Wow, what was going on back there?" Nick chased after Catherine after assignments were handed out. Grissom had assigned both of them to a 419 and Nick was hella curious about what just went on at the break room.

Catherine gave a shrug and said, "I'm tired of being in the middle of Grissom and Sara's dancing about each other. I just wanted to give it a little kick."

"A little kick, huh?" Nick gave a laugh. "That didn't look like a little kick to me. More like hitting a gong in front of Sra's ears. I've never seen Sara look so shocked before."

"Well, she shouldn't be," Catherine put in, "Aren't you tired of the whole silent-movie thing they're performing whenever they're together?" She had stopped on her tracks and was now facing Nick.

"Yeah, I am, but that doesn't mean I want Sara homicidal." Nick defended himself. "And that Sara who came away from assignments is certainly homicidal."

"Oh please!" Catherine scoffed, "How much damage can she do?"

"Uh-huh," Nick shook his head, "I wouldn't bet against Sara's temper if I were you. What made you so brave as to say those things in the first place?"

"As mentioned, one would be the way that Sara and Grissom are behaving around each other. I'm so tired of it." Catherine counted down her reasons. "Two, number one is clearly not doing them any good. Have you seen how those two have been moping around? These can only be caused by love problems."

"And you know this because ... ?" Nick looked at Catherine suspiciously, eyebrow arched.

"Personal experience. Trust me, I've had many of those, too many in fact." Catherine simply replied.

Catherine continued after not getting any verbal response from Nick. "Lastly, and this will knock your boots off, no pun intended, it's in the songs she sings."

"Songs?" Nick looked confused, "I've only ever heard her hum. Where and when have you heard her sing around the lab?"

"She doesn't," Catherine explained, "Not in the lab anyway. She performs at this bar. And before you ask, no, she doesn't know Warrick and I know."

Nick was now gawking like a kid at a candy store. "You've seen her sing? As in band, audience, spot lights and the whole nine yards?"

"Yes, the works!" Catherine nodded, she then pulled Nick aside and said in a much lower voice, "You should have heard her. Heart-wrenching! She was beautiful!"

"I've told her she had a good voice." Nick smiled proudly, "she joked about it though. Said that it was like chalk on a board or something."

"Well, she's good alright! She had me teary-eyed and wistful." Catherine confessed. It was true. The way SAra had sang those songs made her heart ache for that familiar felling. The feeling you get when you're in love? Yes, that kind of feeling. "Anyway, Warrick tells me that she sings at Tikirocks, that's the name of the bar ; it's a couple of blocks from here; every Tuesdays and Fridays."

"Yeah? You think I could sneak in and maybe watch? See how good she really is and all?" Nick's voice was unsure. Catherine figured that he was half afraid that Sara would find out and kicked his ass.

"Go. Tell you what, I'll inform Warrick that you now know. It'd be better if we didn't go together this time. You can go this Tuesday and you just tell us all about it." Catherine offered.

"Sounds good. I promise to report to headquarters right away." Nick joked. They both smiled at this and without further discussion, set their minds back to the job at hand. Oh yes, that 419 at the Bellagio.

x x x x x x x x x

Sara shook her head. She couldn't believe Catherine. What the hell possessed that woman? How could she read me like that? Do I have a biblical sign on my forehead that says, "In love and aching about it."?

"God, I hope she doesn't automatically think its Grissom!" Sara muttered to her self while walking towards her car. She had told Warrick and Grissom she'd meet them at the crime scene. She didn't need to say how nervous she was about working with Grissom again.

Too long have they avoided one another. She just wished she could pull through this night fine.

Her mind went back to Catherine. "Would she know it was Grissom?" the question jumped at Sara. The team must have noticed the tension that had settled between her and Grissom, plus they must have heard the 'dinner invitation' incident by now. The gossip grapevine at the lab was one of the tops. A building full of investigators? What do you expect?

"Oh god!" realization hit her. "I'll never hear the end of it!" Sara crinkled her nose, looking at her reflection on the car window. "Maybe Catherine knowing isn't all that bad. I mean, isn't getting over somebody better with someone else there to help you?"

The idea of Catherine knowing about her and Grissom didn't seem to be as bad to Sara anymore. Though she had always found it hard to keep friendships, friends she indeed found here in Vegas. Warrick, Nick, Catherine, Brass and Greg, despite all his flirting, were her closest friends. Grissom? Nowadays, she couldn't tell what he was in her life.

Sara decided there and then to talk to Catherine the soonest she could. She needed to make sure that Catherine would keep this under wraps and not discuss this with Grissom. Things would only go downhill from there. God knows he doesn't want anything to do with her anymore.

"Maybe I'll even tell her about the singing," Sara thought. She gave a long sigh. She was already starting to feel better about this. This was a good decision.

Driving to the crime scene proved to be relaxing. There were no thoughts or worries about the earlier scene at the break room. Normally that would have had her all worked up but deciding to come clean to Catherine proved helpful. She could talk to Catherine about not creating more scenes like that.


	11. Chapter XI

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Coming up next another chapter that witnesses Sara singing. I'm still choosing which song(s) to use.

---------------------------

CHAPTER XI

Arriving at their B&E, Sara saw that Warrick and Grissom had been there before her. Warrick came out of the house just as she stepped in and gave her a nod, indicating that he was doing the perimeter.

Seeing Grissom standing by the bedroom door in apparent conversation with Jim Brass, Sara moved carefully towards their direction.

"Hey Sara," Brass greeted her warmly as soon as she got beside him. She gave him a small smile and a wave before peering inside the room.

"What do we have?" Sara asked throwing her question to no one in particular.

"Male DB, mid-forties, gun shot to the head..." it was Brass who answered her.

"Wait a minute, I thought we had a B&E..." Sara interrupted.

"The call was a B&E but first officer on the scene found Mr..." Brass checked his notes and continued, "Mr. Patch like this."

"B&E gone bad?" Sara offered.

"That's what you guys are here to find out." Brass smiled at her.

"So Griss," Sara looked at her supervisor's turned head, wondering why he hasn't said one word to her yet, "Where do you want me?"

Grissom's head whipped around to stare at her, confusion apparent in his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Grissom asked. Brass was now officially amused at Grissom.

"Where do you want me to work?" Sara explained, quite confused herself. "Do you want me to work the living room, the bedroom or the body?"

"Oh," Grissom snapped out of his confusion. "Why, ummm, why don't you process the bedroom, I'll do the body."

Sara just nodded and stepped fully into the room and started working. Meanwhile, Grissom felt Brass lean in and heard him whisper on his ear, "Well, that caught you off guard eh? Thinking dirty thoughts?"

Grissom pulled back to look squarely at Jim Brass. His friend just smiled at him and pointed to Sara. Grissom allowed himself to look at Sara's bent form, his mind started wandering then and he was brought back by Brass' chuckle.

Grissom gave Brass a sardonic look and walked up to the dead body and started processing. He tried to ignore Sara's presence as much as he can but occasionally caught himself looking at her. While Sara was processing the different articles that were on the victim's closet, Grissom took in the sight of her, standing there, concentration prominent on her face.

x x x x x x x x x x x x

Jim Brass stared at the figures of the two CSI's working the scene. He had seen Grissom steal a couple of furtive glances at Sara. A smile played at Brass' lips. Grissom. That man was bizarre. Yes, he'd known this guy for years, yet there are still some things that could take him aback. This setting was a classic example.

He knew that Grissom held a candle for Sara. Hell, he'd been carrying a torch for years now. Yet, here he is, stepping back and just watching. It didn't take a genius to know that they both had the hots for each other. The night shift CSIs had found the flirting relationship Grissom and Sara had quite fascinating. But things have been different, they have been for weeks.

The smile on his face had been replaced by a frown. Analyzing Grissom and Sara's relationship would crack even Einstein's brain. No one could understand why these two were not together. Sara was almost like Grissom's clone. She had the same passion for her work as Grissom would. She would give him a run for his money when it came to stacking up hours of overtime. They were perfect for each other.

"What the hell is wrong with these two?" Brass thought, his frown deepening. "Oh yes, the dinner rejection. Yes Jim, how can you forget something like that?"

Brass has not been an official member of the Crime Lab for years, but when you think of it, he spent most of his time there. It wasn't surprising that he knew more gossip about the lab than about the police department. And what's the lab gossip without the ever present "What's up with Grissom and Sara" issue? Of course they all knew about the dinner rejection. Brass' initial reaction upon hearing the news was shock. Sara had offered Grissom an easy way to move their relationship forward and he had rejected it? Brass would have given everything for a chance like that. He had often wondered what went through Gil's mind. He had meant to discuss it with him, but after that incident, Grissom had taken a couple of weeks off.

His return surprised most of the team, except Sara, who by then seemed devoid of any emotion when it came to Grissom. Grissom returned to work with a beard and a different air about him. Brass couldn't exactly put his finger into it.

Brass caught Grissom look at Sara once again. This time he seemed to have been fixated by her though. Brass shook his head. The uneasiness between these two has definitely wrecked havoc on their relationship ... friendship, or whatever they called it these days. He fervently wished that Grissom would act on repairing what is rapidly a straining relationship / friendship / whatever before things really become irreparable. He didn't like seeing Sara like this. It had been ages since he had a really good conversation with Sara. She had distanced herself, not only from Brass, but as he had just learned, from the rest of the guys as well.

Brass couldn't fathom how Grissom could stand to watch Sara like this. Brass shook his head once more and decided to check up on Warrick.

x x x x x x x x x x x x

Sara could feel his eyes on her. She tried to shrug it off, passing it down to his need to check up on his CSI's performance, but this was lasting a little too long for that. Sara was now growing nervous.

Grissom didn't need to do much to get Sara's pulse racing. He only ever needed to say her name softly and she could at once feel her insides melt, though that hasn't happened for a long time now. These days, her name on his lips would come out as a warning to her.

She tried her best to act as if she didn't exist in the room. She continued to process the closet, noting that some articles of clothing have been moved aside to make, what looked like a space for a person to stand in. She reached for her kit to take out the necessary tools to take finger prints off the inside of the closet door. After a couple of seconds, she successfully lifted a couple of good prints.

Turning her attention from the closet to the other items in the room, she took some photos of them and inspected them closely.

She spent a good amount of time being thorough, taking down notes, taking pictures of significant things and retrieving evidence while feeling Grissom's eyes on her from time to time. When she had decided there was no more she could do here, she turned to Grissom, who was still bent over the body, inspecting it closely.

"Ummm, Griss?" Sara spoke softly. She wasn't sure if Grissom would hear her, but apparently he did as he turned his head towards her. "I'm done here. If you don't need me for anything else I'm heading back to the lab to check these in for processing."

Grissom just nodded at this. There was nothing he really could say. Her words were a statement and were not asking for permission.

"I'll see you back at the lab." Grissom finally said.

Sara gave him a weak smile and turned towards the door when she heard him call her name out.

"Sara ..." Grissom straightened up, "Umm... drive carefully."

Sara raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure what that meant exactly. She merely acknowledged that she heard him, walked out to her car and drove off.


	12. Chapter XII

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I used local songs on this chapter. If you want to listen to them, I've uploaded them to my server. You may download them if you wish, email me at if you want 'em.

'Till my heartaches end' – (sorry forgot who the artist was)

'Let the Pain Remain' by the Side A Band

---------------------------

CHAPTER XII

Sara arrived a 20 minutes before she was going up on stage. Quickly stopping by the band to discuss the song she was singing tonight, she was approached by Bobby, one of the guys who sang in the bar, immediately as she entered backstage.

"Hi Sara." Bobby shyly said.

"Hey Bobby." Sara greeted him back, smiling, "How is everything?"

"Fine... ummm .. it's fine." Bobby said, his eyes moving about and he seemed to be nervous about something. "I .. I wanted to ask a small favor."

"Favor?" Sara asked, "What kind of favor exactly?"

"Well, I planned to sing this song," Bobby handed her a song sheet. Sara took a look at the sheet and recognized the song. She didn't really know who had sung it, but she was familiar with the lyrics and melody. "with Teresa tonight. The problem is she can't come in, she's got a family emergency and now I have no one to sing it with."

"So..." Sara guessed what Bobby was getting at and what he was nervous about. The people at the bar weren't exactly close to her. She sometimes thought that they were afraid of her. "You're asking me to sing this with you?"

"Yeah, umm... I know it's silly..." Bobby stammered, and then he sighed saying "know what... forget it.. I'm sorry for asking, I know I shouldn't bother you with this..."

"Bobby..." Sara interrupted. "Bobby! Don't worry, I'll do it."

"You will?" A huge smile immediately appeared on Bobby's face. "Really?"

"Yes, I will." Sara gave him a warm smile.

"Thanks Sara!" Bobby's hands flew up on the air. Sara was half afraid he was going to give her a hug, so she stepped slowly back. "This means a lot to me. So, ummm... We're on in 10, so if you'd like to read over the lyrics or something, we can go do that now."

Sara simply nodded and gestured for him to show her the way. She shook her head in amusement as she followed Bobby to wherever he was taking her.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Arriving at Tikirocks using the directions Catherine gave him, Nick saw Sara's Denali at the parking space. Nick smiled thinking that at least he was safe from running into the Sara before he got the chance to duck into some dark corner of the bar.

Taking in the inside structure of the bar once inside, Nick easily located the bar and went to look for a place to sit. A seat where Sara wouldn't see him, not that she could probably see much with the spotlight on the stage. Nonetheless, Nick wanted to be on the safe side.

Turning around to face the bartender when he heard him ask what drink he wanted, Nick hesitated for a moment before saying, "You guys have iced tea?"

"This ain't a restaurant," the bartender raised his eyebrow. "But yeah, we do serve iced tea."

"Well, I'll have that." Nick smiled and then explained, "I'm on the clock and ..."

"Yeah, yeah," the bartender interrupted, "that's not the first time I've heard that." He abruptly turned and went to get Nick's order.

Nick didn't have enough time to ponder on what the bartender had said for he saw Sara go up on the somewhat smallish stage with a guy.

"Hmm... and this guy is who?" Nick wondered. This was one question he needed to ask Catherine and Warrick. They didn't mention anything about another guy. Had Grissom finally lost Sara? Nick didn't like this. Much as he hated seeing Sara hurting over Grissom, he still thought that somehow they'd pull away from all that and be really happy together.

"Nope," Nick mumbled, "I don't like this guy at all."

"Hey all!" the guy greeted the people in the bar. He got some enthusiastic replies and that's when Nick found out his name. There were a couple of "Go Bobby!"-ies that came from one table. Nick gave a short laugh thinking, "Probably a bunch of his friends."

"Good, good." Bobby continued and presented Sara to the audience saying, "you all know Sara, who graces us with her wonderful voice here at Tikirocks too ... " applause broke out from the meager audience. Sara gave a shy wave at the crowd and Nick gave another laugh. "Typical Sara," Nick thought.

"Anyway, I was supposed to sing a duet with Teresa, but she can't be here tonight so Sara is being the greatest and agreed to do it with me." Bobby proudly said and giving Sara a small bow.

The crowd settled down and became quiet as the song intro was played the band. Nick could clearly see that Sara was a bit nervous. He wasn't sure if it was the lights, the audience or the singing in public. Maybe it was mixture of all of these.

Nick saw Sara raise the microphone to her mouth. "She's singing first!" Nick's mind flashed. He didn't notice that he was holding his breath.

_I recall, when you said that you would never leave me._

_You told me more,_

_So much more like when the time you whispered in my ear._

_There was heaven in my heart,_

_I remember, when you said that you'd be here forever._

Nick saw Sara lower her mic and he heard Bobby sing. Bobby's voice took Nick aback. The guy actually had a good singing voice!

_Then you left, without even saying that you're leaving._

_I was hurt, and it really won't be easy to forget yesterday._

_And I pray that you would stay_

_But then you're gone and oh, so far away_

Nick braced himself as Sara and Bobby sang together, Sara taking the higher note.

_I was afraid this time would come,_

_I wasn't prepared to face this kind of hurting from within._

_I have learned to live my life beside you._

_Maybe I'll just dream of you tonight,_

_And if into my dreams you'll come and touch me once again._

_I'll just keep on dreaming 'till my heartaches end._

Nick was in awe. He had never dreamt of ever seeing Sara this way, but here he was, witnessing Sara weave her emotions into the song. He knew Sara had a very deep capacity for caring, that was visible in how she did her work, and now, by just looking at her singing, but she often masked it her usual tough exterior. It was moments like this that Nick loved seeing. Sara was at her most beautiful when her emotions spoke for her.

And then, Sara sang again ...

_... yesterday_

_And I pray that you would stay_

_But then you're gone and oh, so far away_

_I was afraid this time would come,_

_I wasn't prepared to face this kind of hurting from within._

_I have learned to live my life beside you._

_Maybe I'll just dream of you tonight,_

_And if into my dreams you'll come and touch me once again._

_I'll just keep on dreaming 'till my heartaches end._

To say that Sara's voice was great was an understatement. Nick knew she was good, but he never imagined that she'd be this good. Nick felt the hair at the back of his neck stand when Sara sang the high notes. They were wonderful. Her voice never cracked once and Nick was now officially smiling like a fool. He was so proud of her. He couldn't understand why she made fun of her voice when he complimented her the last time.

As the song ended, Bobby and Sara's duet received the bar's full applause. Every single one of the people in there was clapping, that included the bartender!

Bobby once again gave Sara another bow and left the stage, still waving at the audience and thanking them. It was now Sara's turn to sing alone.

The band started playing, the audience became silent, and once again, Nick held his breath, ready to be swept away.

_Love comes, love goes_

_But a certain feeling never lets me be._

_Somehow, I know_

_Quite a part of me isn't changed since you've been gone._

_Like a sturdy tree that's seen a thousand seasons._

_I still shed my leaves in winter _

_To grow them back in spring _

_To welcome life again_

_To welcome you_

Nick's breath, still caught up on his throat, came suddenly out. He took a sip of his iced tea, not noticing when the bartender has served it.

_So goes, my life_

_Still believe in dreams of having you around_

_Too bad, memories feed the mind and not the heart _

_Where I want you to be,_

_So I ask myself what you've left behind for me _

_To go on each day and live as if_

_I have you once again_

_What else is there that's real_

_But all the pain that I feel,_

_So let the pain remain_

_Forever in my heart_

_For every throb it brings is one more moment _

_Spent with you,_

_I let the pain, bring on the rain _

_If that's the only way_

_If there's no other way _

_To be with you again_

As she sang the chorus, Nick felt his fingers tighten around his iced tea glass. He began thinking that, now maybe he was wrong about Sara waiting for Grissom to come to his senses. He knew that if they ever got around to being together, there would be no two happier people in the world, but as things were, Grissom was only making things worse instead of better.

Yes, he'd heard about the dinner rejection; by now he wondered who has not heard it, and he mentally kicked Grissom for refusing such an offer. Things have been strange between those two afterwards. It seemed like they went to all lengths to avoid being in the same room. Listening to them converse would be like listening to ice melt.

Nick heaved a sigh. Well, he thought, if Grissom isn't going to do anything that will snap them out of this, I say more power to Sara getting over him.

Nick joined the rest of the people in the bar who stood up and gave Sara a loud applause when she finished singing.

Mentally congratulating Sara, Nick clapped even louder when he saw Sara give the audience a small sincere smile. And then he thought smiling, "You go, girl!"

-------------------------

MORE NOTES : As I return to working mode tomorrow, the next chapter might take another day or two. Sorry, but well, we all know we need work. :D

Thanks for all the reviews!


	13. Chapter XIII

IIIIIDISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! ;D

Thanks for the great reviews!

---------------------------

CHAPTER XIII

Catherine and Warrick were in the break room. They had agreed to come earlier than they usually did to have a few minutes with Nick.

"What is taking Nicky so long?" Catherine complained. She had been impatiently tapping her fingers on the table. Warrick wanted to comment on it, but thought better of it, not risking Catherine's temper on him.

"Relax," Warrick soothed, "He's going to get here soon enough."

"I'm aging here..." Catherine said, eyeing the hallways leading to the break room for any sign of Nick.

A couple of minutes flew by and just as Catherine was about to once again complain about Nick's tardiness, she caught sight of him walking briskly towards the break room.

"About time you got here!" Catherine huffed as soon as Nick stepped inside the room. "Where were you?"

"Hey guys, sorry for being so late." Nick apologized.

"Save it!" Catherine cut in, Warrick simply shook his head at Catherine's impatience. "Okay, c'mon, spill. What happened?"

"Calm down, woman," Nick said, trying to evade Catherine's glare.

"So," Catherine ignored him and continued on, "aren't you going to tell us what happened?"

"Yes, I am!" Nick laughed, completely amused at Catherine's behavior. "If you'll give me a chance..." Nick paused and gave Catherine a knowing look. When Catherine did not say anything, Nick continued saying, "Well, Sara did a duet tonight."

"Really?" Catherine expressed, leaning her elbows on the table. "Who? Who'd she sing with?"

"Some guy named Bobby?" it was more like a question than a statement.

"Oh yeah," Warrick spoke for the first time since Nick came in, "Another guy who performs there, saw him first time I went. Funny thing, he brought his friends last time, but he did have a good voice."

"Yeah, I thought so too." Nick agreed, while Catherine stared from one man to the other.

"Aaaannddd?..." Catherine snapped her fingers.

"Geez, I never imagined you'd be hooked on Sara singing like this!" Nick joked.

"Yeah well, I've always liked her voice," Catherine defended, "it's the songs she sings I'm interested in. Shows the emotional Sidle from time to time."

"Amen to that." Warrick nodded. After some thought, Nick nodded to this too.

"Anyway," Nick broke the short silence that followed. Nick didn't want to spend another minute with the impatient Catherine oggling him with details, Nick told them what happened at the bar.

He told them how Sara blew his mind away with her voice and how amazed he was when she sang every single high note. He told them how proud he was of Sara and how he wanted to tell her exactly that.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Greg had been working on Ecklie's case for a while now. Tiredness was starting to seep into his body and he felt the whispers of sleep beckoning him. He was pulling a double himself as the other DNA technician was off for some personal time today.

He straightened up his form to loosen the knots that have formed on his back. Moving his neck this way and that helped him relax a bit.

"One more blood sample to process and hello Blue Hawaiian!" Greg thought to himself.

It took another 10 minutes before he could finally get away from the lab to go grab his coffee. On the way to the break room, he noticed Sara walking into the lab. He gave Sara a small wave of his hand as she caught sight of him as well. He didn't need to ask where she was headed as he knew she always stopped by the locker rooms.

He saw what looked like an intense conversation going on between Warrick, Nick and Catherine in the break room. He didn't want to intrude upon their conversation but curiosity got the better of him. He quickened his step and caught a bit of their conversation without them realizing that he was within hearing range.

"I gotta tell you, I wasn't sure what to expect from Sara," Nick was telling Catherine and Warrick, "But hearing her sing those songs, she was just... she was fantastic!"

"What's this about Sara singing?" Greg interrupted. All heads turned to him, surprise registering on their faces.

"Greg, how long have you been standing there?" Catherine asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Long enough to hear you guys talking about Sara..." Greg grinned, "and secretly, I might add."

Nick lowered his head and sighed. Greg took the silence as an opportunity to settle on one of the available chairs and inquired more about the topic at hand.

"So, tell me about Sara singing." Greg looked at Nick, who in turn looked at Warrick and Catherine. "Aw c'mon! I can keep a secret ... or would you rather I ask Sara instead?"

He had meant the threat as a joke, but he could clearly see it was working. Catherine sighed audibly and nodded for Nick to relate the story.

"Okay, we're telling," Nick sighed back and looked intently at Greg. "But you better be sure you keep your mouth shut or else!"

"Yeah, c'mon, tell me!" Greg said excitedly, "And be quick about it, I just saw Sara come in a while ago."

Nick was only able to tell Greg, "Well, we've found out that she's been singing at this bar," when they heard Sara's footsteps emerge from around the corner.

"What's wrong Greg?" Sara asked as she joined them in the break room. "You look frustratedor something."

"Oh, more frustrated than you can imagine." Greg croaked, making Catherine laugh.

"Okkaaaay, I'm just going to write that down as another unfulfilled sex dream." Sara gave Greg a sarcastic smile.

"I'd prefer that actually," Greg smiled, while Sara and Nick grimaced, "But as it is, the reason for my ahh, frustration as you say is ... my body needs sleep, but I can't. I'm on double shift tonight."

Unknown to Sara, the other occupants of the room silently thanked Greg for keeping his word and not busting them out.

"I take it the original reason of your trip here was coffee then?" Warrick spoke, hinting that Greg should get his move on.

"Oh, right, coffee," Greg took the hint and grabbed his cup and filled it with coffee. "Nick here, sidetracked me into telling him all of my complaints."

Sara raised a suspicious brow and looked at Greg.

"Anyway, I gotta head back to the lab. I have results to hand over to Ecklie," Greg excused himself. "And Nick, come by later and I'll tell you more about what I don't like about the job."

Nick read the meaning behind Greg's words and nodded his agreement.

Sara occupied the seat that Greg vacated, noticing the silence of her friends and colleagues.

"What was that about?" Sara asked when Greg left. She focused her attention on Catherine, hoping that she'd get something from her.

"Oh, you know how that guy is," Catherine lied and said, "Complaining about Ecklie and all, said that he was being rude to Greg. Mr. Sensitive there just went on and told us all about his day."

Catherine, Warrick and Nick were saved from further questions from Sara when Grissom appeared from the corner, waving the assignment slips in his hand.

"Okay people," Grissom greeted. Putting on his glasses, he started handing assignments out saying, "Assignments are ready to be distributed. Warrick, Sara you have a 419 ..."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Greg kept on pacing back and forth, back and forth. He had handed his results to Ecklie, who was seemed surprised at his detached demeanor. He was now anticipating Nick's arrival.

"Sara singing?" Greg talked to himself softly. "I know I've heard h er around here, but to see her perform? Wow, I gotta have Nick take me the next time."

Greg continued to ponder on this until Nick appeared by the door.

"Hey Greggo, I've come to report," Nick said, breaking into Greg's thoughts.

"Thank god you're here." Greg said, lifting his arms up in a gesture.

"I would have thought that working in a DNA lab, you'd have more patience than this Greggo." Nick joked.

"When it comes to the loves of my life, Sara being one of them, I'm not that patient." Greg replied.

"When are you going to accept the fact that you're not going to get together with Sara..." Nick laughed and added, "ever?"

"Not until I see her necking with Grissom." Greg smiled widely.

"Well, that's a long time," Nick smiled along with him.

"So... before you tell me the dirty details, we have to make sure that Sara's not around to interrupt us." Greg stepped quickly out of the lab and looked at the hallways leading to their location. Seeing nobody around, he went back in and said, "Okay, the coast is clear."

"Okay, Master Spy," Nick laughed and began. "Warrick went to a bar that's just a couple of blocks away from here last week. He was shocked out of his socks to find that Sara has actually been singing in that bar for a month now."

Having Greg's full attention, Nick went on to tell the whole 'dirty details' as Greg would put it, of the story.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Having assigned the members of his team to the different cases for the night, Grissom spent a couple of minutes talking with Catherine about her previous case.

He was dreading going back to his office and seeing the rising pile of papers he needed to do. The shift has just begun, yet simply thinking about those papers made him suddenly so tired.

As if it would make the pile on his desk disappear, he walked slowly towards his office. Watching people, lab techs and not go about their work in the different rooms.

He saw Nick and Greg in deep conversation at the DNA lab. Going over to ask how Nick was doing with his case from yesterday, Grissom was surprised that they didn't even notice him coming.

He stopped just before he reached the door to the DNA lab. It was because Greg and Nick had their backs turned from the door that they didn't notice Grissom hearing their conversation.

"So, what you're telling me is that Sara's been singing her heart out at Tikirocks for a month now and we didn't even catch on it?" Greg asked almost incredulously.

"Literally singing her heart out." Nick nodded. "And if you heard her, man ... it wouldn't take a genius to see she's got it bad for him."

"Sara? Singing? Him?" questions assaulted Grissom's brain. Half of him didn't want to hear anymore, but this conversation certainly piqued his interest.

"Really?" Greg's voice came out sad. "I like and I even look up to him and all, but I don't understand him. How can you stand by and watch somebody like Sara walk away?"

"I dunno Greg. I feel for Sara though. Hearing her sing," Nick gave a shrug, "it's just so heart-wrenching. I mean her pain really shows, you know?"

"Do you think Grissom will ever realize that Sara will never love another guy?" Greg said, again sadness in his voice.

"Me? Sara is in love?" Grissom staggered back from his position. He had always known that she felt something for him. The first few times he thought it was just mere flirting. The other times he thought it was a crush, but he never really thought it could be more than that.

Grissom's heartbeats started to go faster. Was it true? Is Sara really in love with me? Grissom shook his head. No, it couldn't be true. What would she see in me? He shook his head again.

"I hope so, Greggo. I sure hope so." Nick's voice came out softer than Greg's question. "For both their sakes anyway. I don't think we can stand how those two are going on at the moment any longer."

"Yeah, I agree." Greg nodded. "So, are we on for Friday night then? I'll meet you at the bar?"

Grissom didn't wait to find out more about Nick and Greg's conversation. He had silently moved away from the DNA lab and started for his office. His ears were ringing. Sara singing. Sara in love. Tikirocks. Friday.

The last thing he remembered thinking before entering his office was, "I have to go see her Friday."


	14. Chapter XIV

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Sorry this is very late. I had to go give a three day workshop in a place without cable tv, no internet and no computers to use. I can say to you now that it was torture.

Next chapter we have Griss witness Sara singing! :D

Please review! Thanks!

---------------------------

CHAPTER XIV

The lab had spent a couple of uneventful shifts the past days. Everyone was wondering if all the crooks have up and left town, but it wasn't so for the night shift.

Getting back to the lab from her crime scene with Warrick, Sara gave a heavy sigh as they pulled into the parking lot. If Warrick noticed her sigh, he did not give any indication of doing so. They had earlier gone back to try and see if there were any evidence they might have overlooked on the B&E-gone-homicide case they have been working for days. Sara was growing frustrated knowing that the perpetrator was still at large.

Thankfully, her mind wasn't all consumed by the case at the moment. She had decided earlier that day to finally have that talk with Catherine.

Stepping out of their vehicle, Sara told Warrick she'd catch him later and went to look for Catherine.

She found the senior CSI walking out of Ballistics. She quickened her pace to catch up behind Catherine who was looking down on her folder.

"Hey Cath," Sara called over. She saw Catherine look up from the file she was viewing and gave her a smile.

"Hey," Catherine greeted. "What's up?"

"Umm... I was wondering," Sara said, her voice low. "I was wondering if I could by any chance talk to you for a while."

"Something about your case?" Catherine asked.

"No, it's not about a case," Sara answered quickly. "It's ummm... it's personal actually."

"Oh?" Catherine raised an eyebrow. She looked about her scoping out some private area they could go to. Deciding that there was only one place that was good, she took Sara by the elbow and directed her there. "Why don't we do this in the locker room. Nobody's there this time of the day."

"My thoughts exactly," agreed Sara, letting Catherine lead her by the elbow.

They remained silent on their short walk towards their destination. As if by agreement they waited until they were out of everybody else's way before they spoke again.

"So, what's this all about?" Catherine asked, lowering herself unto the locker room bench.

"It's ... it's about what you said about me the other day." Sara said, sitting right next to Catherine.

Catherine gave her a confused look. Sara wasn't sure if she was pretending not to remember of she really couldn't recall.

"You know, that comment you did about," Sara nervously recounted. "about ... well, about my heart already taken ... or something along that line."

"Oh right," Catherine nodded remembering what Sara was referring to.

"Yeah, I was wondering," Sara was now wringing her fingers together," I ... why did you say that?"

"Isn't it the truth?" Catherine answered with a question. Getting no reply from Sara she continued saying, "Look, you're a woman, so am I. We have this ... this radar, if you will. One can tell these things, you know."

"And here I thought I was getting good at hiding it." Sara smiled, a little sarcasm in her voice.

"Well, you can't fool me Sara." Catherine's voice was smooth and she looked at Sara's wrung fingers. "I've known for a long time"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sara brought her gaze to Catherine's face.

"Because, I figured that when you're ready, you'll tell." Catherine gave her a smile and a shrug.

Sara merely nodded at this. She always had great respect for Catherine. Catherine was one of those women who could exert their rights without breaking a sweat but who could also give tremendous amount of comfort to others. True, they've had their differences, but those same differences were the reason they were friends.

Sara had been silent for a long moment. Catherine intruded into her thoughts asking her to continue asking, "So ... you ready to tell?"

The younger CSI looked deep into Catherine's eyes. What she saw was comforted her. She took a deep breath and started speaking.

"I don't think I can go on pretending I don't feel anything anymore, Cath." her words came quickly and heavy.

Catherine gave Sara a sympathetic look and wrapped her arm around Sara's shoulders.

"Sara, I don't know what's going on between you and Grissom," Catherine soothed, "though I'm sure that he's been closing himself off again in 'Emotionless Wonderland'."

"How ... how'd you know it was him?" Sara sounded more shocked than she thought she'd be.

"Aw c'mon," Catherine gave a low laugh, "You didn't really think the lab wouldn't notice the flirting and now the coldness between you two, did you?"

"I ... I didn't really think ..." Sara stammered in return.

"Sar, what happened?" Catherine softly inquired. Of course she knew what happened, it didn't stop her from wanting to hear the story from her friend.

Sara exhaled deeply, looked down on her hands again and spoke. "Remember the lab explosion? Oh, of course you remember. Who can forget ..."

"Go on," Catherine encouraged her as she lapsed into another silence.

"Well, that ... after shift I asked him out to dinner. It took all my guts to ask. I had followed him earlier that day trying to get the perfect time to pose the question." She gave a shaky laugh, "My timing really sucked, huh?"

"What happened next?"

"I got hurt in the blast, I ... I must have been staring off in shock or something because the next thing I remember was seeing him in front of me and saying something." Sara told her story, her gaze shifting back and forth between her hands and Catherine. "I remember him calling me 'honey' though."

"He did?" Catherine smiled warmly, mentally telling herself that it Grissom must have slipped after seeing Sara hurt.

"Yeah, he did. Made me think the dinner invitation would be worth it after all, you know?" Sara gave Catherine a weak smile and then she shrugged. "How wrong was I about it?! Sooo wrong."

Catherine began moving her palm up and down Sara's back to comfort her. Sara just shook her head.

"Sara ..." Catherine spoke softly after a few moments. "I don't know what to say about Grissom's actions, but I am sure he feels something for you."

"I don't know Cath," Sara simply shook her head. "At one point, I thought so too. I just can't figure out if it was just flirting with me or it was something else. Which is precisely why I asked him out to dinner. Well, that turned out disastrous."

"I'm sure it was more than just flirting Sara." Catherine said, wanting to comfort Sara further.

"That's just it," Sara looked up at her, a tear falling down her cheek. "If it was, why did he say no?"

"Maybe ... maybe he had his reasons?" Catherine defended Grissom. She didn't know why he'd said no, but she had a feeling that losing his hearing played a role in it.

"Well, I'm tired of it." Sara huffed, more tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm tired of being pulled back and forth. I'm tired of pining away for someone who may or may not feel anything for me."

"What are you saying?" Catherine asked carefully, afraid to elevate Sara's emotions some more.

"I'm saying I want to move on." Sara brushed the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "I want to not feel this pain anymore. I want to feel something else other than this."

They remained silent after Sara's revelation. They listened to the other voices and noises from outside the locker area.

"You want to know what's worse?" Sara said with a shaky laugh. "Hearing him say no felt so much worse than finding out about Hank's lie."

Catherine could only imagine how Sara was feeling at that very moment. But she knew now the roots of the emotions Sara projected whenever she sang. She would have to tell her about the team and her knowing this, but that could come later, she thought.

"I don't think I even loved Hank. I liked him," Sara gave another pathetic laugh, a tear rolling down her left cheek. "He made me feel liked ... wanted. That's why I stayed in it."

"What are you going to do?" Catherine didn't really know why she was asking such a question. Nobody really knows what to do when one is heart broken, did they?

Sara shook her head slowly. "I ... I don't know. I feel so lost right now ... alone. I know that I come off as distant to you guys, but it's just my way of dealing, y'know? But lately..." Sara sighed, "lately, it's been terribly hard pretending I don't feel anything. It's just that, everyday, I wake up and tell myself, today is the day I move on, and then I see him at work and ... and ... and all of these things just wash over me. I really do want to move on ... I don't think I can handle this pain anymore."

"Maybe you should try expressing yourself?" Catherine suggested. "I know that when people keep things bottled up inside, it ends up hurting them or the people around them who cares. And Sara, we care about you, I hope you know that."

"I know Cath," Sara smiled, placing a hand over Catherine's. "And I'm blessed to have you guys. I know I don't say it enough, but your friendship, you, Warrick, Nick and even Greg, is one of the things that has made me stay in Vegas."

"And Grissom?" Catherine inquired softly.

"He brought me to Vegas, he made me stay, he is the reason I stay." Sara confided, making Catherine's heart swell for her. "But, lately, I don't know ... it all just feels pointless now. I can't go to work without thinking that somehow I've lost what I always look forward to. I love my job, don't get me wrong, but I had something to drive me to enjoy it. We had something in common."

Another silence drifted between the two women. This time, it was occasionally interrupted by sniffing coming from Sara who continued to wipe the tears off her face. Catherine felt that she should help Sara with a little revelation herself.

"You know, in the spirit of being honest and all, I have something to tell you myself." Catherine smiled.

"Oh-oh, am I going to like this piece of confession?" Sara's voice sounded afraid.

"Well, it's actually a good-news-bad-news kind of confession."

"Okay," Sara relaxed a little, "Go on then."

"The good news is, I think you've got a really good voice." Catherine said, raising alarms in Sara's head.

"Wait a sec, you've heard me sing?" Sara asked, almost panicky. "Around the lab right? You've heard me hum and sing around here?"

"That's the bad news," Catherine smiled again. "I've actually seen you at Tikirocks."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Sara's voice came out as a shout. The word she uttered reverberated around the empty locker room and even caught the people's attention passing outside the room, including Grissom who had been looking for Catherine.

Hearing Sara's panicked voice, he quickly directed his steps inside the room and caught Sara standing menacingly over Catherine's seated form. Sara looked like she was about to eat the other woman though Grissom couldn't figure out why there were tear stains on her face.

"Is everything alright in here?" Grissom asked, leaning against the locker room door.

Both heads snapped to him, one with shock, the other one still looking menacing.

"I heard raised voices. You aren't fighting are you?" Grissom looked from one to the other. Neither seemed to want to answer his questions.

"Well, if we're just going to stare at one another, I suggest we go about our work. Catherine, as I've been on the hunt for you, I want to see you in my office. That is, if you can spare the time." Grissom said, almost irritated by the women's silence.

"Yeah, I'll be right out." Catherine replied, standing from her position.

Grissom gave both of them another look and left the CSIs to finish off whatever conversation they were having.

"Look," Catherine sighed, soothing Sara's tense form by rubbing her arm. "I think that it's a very brave thing to do, singing. I know that it's hard for you to express things and I think that all this singing is doing you good. And you really do have a great voice. You almost made me cry, did you know that?"

Sara snorted. She didn't know what she felt hearing Catherine's news. She felt shocked, betrayed, but mostly, she felt relieved. "Thanks ... I guess."

"No, seriously. You have an amazing voice, and well ... you bring out pure emotion when you sing your songs. It was lovely seeing you like that Sara. You felt real."

Sara blushed a very dark shade of red. Catherine merely laughed at her and gave her a small hug.

"Well, I better go see what Dr. Gruesome has for me." Catherine started on her exit. Just before she completely left the room, she turned around and said, "Oh, there's more news ... I'm not the only one who thinks you have a beautiful voice. So does Warrick and Nick ... and maybe even Greg."

Before she could get any response from Sara, Catherine quickly ducked out of her sight not seeing the complete and utter shock on Sara's face.


	15. Chapter XV

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I used the songs, 'Last Chance' by Allure and 'Beautiful' by Jennifer Paige on this chapter.

---------------------------

CHAPTER XV

"When is she going to be on?" Greg asked once again. It had been the 10th question posted to Nick in the last 20 minutes or so.

"Will you just chill and wait?" Nick reprimanded. "You're like a kid in a toy store! All things in good time, my friend."

"Well, time we don't have. Work starts in an hour" Greg pouted, taking another sip of his iced tea the bartender had handed them earlier. He thought back to the strange comments done by their bartender. As soon as he saw Nick he raised a hand and said, "Save it! I know ... you're on the clock."

Greg dismissed the thought and turned back to Nick. "Are you sure she's coming on?"

"I really don't know Greggo. We will just have to be PATIENT" Nick said putting emphasis on the last word.

Greg pouted once more and busied himself by checking out the other occupants of the bar.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Sitting at the opposite side of the bar, Grissom looked at Nick and Greg's figures seated on the bar stools. He had arrived shortly before they did and was glad that he chose the table farthest from both the stage and the bar area. He hadn't told anyone he knew and was coming to see Sara tonight.

He couldn't explain why he was here. He had spent the better part of the day continuously debating whether he would go or not. In the end, being an investigator, curiousity got the better of him, or was it th want to see this special side of Sara Sidle? He really couldn't tell.

Grissom stared at the performer on stage. She was in her mid-twenties and was singing about heartache. This left Grissom wondering if Sara would sing of the exact same things.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Still reeling from the knowledge that her friends knew about her singing, Sara hoped that hey didn't come tonight to see her. She was nervous beyond words.

She gave herself a mental shake. No, let them see her now. This was another side of her, a real part of her. And she knew that no matter what, her friends would love her no matter what. She was thankful though that Grissom had no idea about all this.

Moments later, she steadied her breating and stepped up on the stage that she was now getting used to. She felt the butterflies in her stomach, but they were mainly due to the fact that her friends might be in the audience tonight.

"Good evening," Sara surprised herself by saying her words in a very calm voice. Receiving her usual enthusiastic reply from the audience, she gave a nod to the bar band, telling them to start playing her song.

She huffed another deep breath, calmed herself further and started singing.

_This is my last dance with you_

_This is my only chance to do all I can do_

_To let you know that what I feel for you is real_

_This is the last chance for us_

_This is the moment that I just cannot let end_

_Before I know that there's a chance we're more than friends_

_Sara couldn't help but think back to the dinner invitation. That was her last chance. That was supposed to move their relationship, evolve their frienship ..._

_So don't let go, don't let go_

_Make it last all night_

_This is my last chance to make you mine_

_I kept my feelings so deep_

_I kept my dreams of you and me somewhere inside_

_Although I prayed that you would see it in my eyes_

She thought of all the flirting, the feel of his face on her palm. How wonderful it felt stroking his face. She felt her heart contract at her thoughts. Deny them all she want, she missed those moments.

_But this is my last chance to say_

_What's in my heart before you stay out of my life_

_And then you'll understand the way I feel inside_

_So hold me close cause it feels so right_

_This is my last chance to make it mine_

_Make this dream reality_

_So close and yet so far_

_Gotta find a way into your heart_

_Gotta speak my mind_

_Gotta open up to you this time_

_I can't let you slip away tonight_

_This is my last dance iwth you_

_This is my only chance to do all I can do_

_To let you know that what I feel for you is so real_

_So don't let go_

_Just make it last all night long_

_This is my last chance to make you mine, yeah_

_To make you mine_

Finishing off her song, she couldn't help but feel extreme sadness. She had her chance. Grissom didn't want her. It was all a silly dream, she thought to herself. She had given all of herself to him, given him all the chances, and she just ended up hurt.

She smiled at herself as she thought of the lyrics to her next song.

She gave the audience another smile and spoke to them before starting to sing again. She waited until all the initial applause died down before speaking.

"Thank you. Thank you again. This next song hopefully finds its way to those who have lost." Sara didn't dare to explain what she meant further, hoping that the lyrics would talk for her.

_I'm looking for a way to feel you hold me_

_To feel your heart beat just one more time_

_I'm reaching back, trying to touch the moment_

_Each precious minute that you were mine_

_How do you prepare, when you love someone this way,_

_To let them go a little more each day?_

_The stars we put in place_

_The dreams we didn't waste_

_The sorrows we embraced_

_The world belonged to you and me_

_The oceans that we crossed_

_The innocence we've lost_

_The hurting at the end_

_I'd go there again,_

_´cause it was beautiful._

_It was beautiful._

She felt the threat of tears forming stronger than the last but fought them back.

She knew she had to move on, for her sake, and maybe even for Grissom.

She'd never regret anything. If she had to replay the past years, she wouldn't trade falling in love with Grissom for anything in the world.

All that really hurt her was that they couldn't be together.

_Some days missing you is overwhelming_

_When it hits me you're not coming back_

_And in my darkest hours, I have wondered_

_Was it worth it for the time we had?_

_My thoughts get kinda scattered, but one thing I know is true_

_I bless the day that I found you, oh oh_

_The stars we put in place_

_The dreams we didn't waste_

_The sorrows we embraced_

_The world belonged to you and me_

_The oceans that we crossed_

_The innocence we've lost_

_The hurting at the end_

_I'd go there again,_

_´cause it was beautiful._

_It was beautiful._

_She fought the deluge of thoughts and dreams she'd had of Grissom. She couldn't understand how one person could consume her life so much._

_Oh, The rules we stepped aside_

_The fear that we defied_

_Oh, The thrill of the ride_

_The fire in our hearts that burned_

_The oceans that we crossed_

_The innocence we've lost_

_The hurting at the end_

_I'd go there again,_

_´cause it was beautiful._

_So beautiful._

_It was beautiful._

A single tear ran down her cheek as she finished singing. Wiping the tear away as casually as she could, she gave another nod to the audience who broke into a much louder applause.

Quickly leaving the stage, she took a deep breath to calm her beating heart and to surpress the incoming tears.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Grissom's mind emptied of all other thoughts except Sara. He had never hated himself more than he did at this very moment.

Sara was in love. Was? Is? Grissom ended up staring at his hands, clasped on the table. He could not shake the image of Sara singing, nor the transparent flow of emotions that came off her. These other people didn't know her as he did. What he just witnessed was pure emotion. Love and Pain.

He hated himself for inflicting such pain on her. He hated himself for not believing that things between them would work. He hated himself for doubting her feelings for him as he doubted his feelings for her. He hated himself for staying away too long ...

As he stood up to leave, he vowed that from then on, he would do everything he could to make it up to Sara. To show her that he loved her.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

"I don't know what to say." Greg said, as he and Nick walked to their vehicle.

"You and me both." Nick said back, climbing into the driver's seat.

"Remember when I told you the only time I'll ever give up on the thought of me and Sara together is when I see her necking with Griss?" Greg said, voice flat and sounding so very shocked. "Well, I take it back. I'll never get Sara. She sooo belongs to Grissom."

"Yeah, and all we need now is to wake Grissom up and have him take his head out his ass."


	16. Chapter XVI

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Yay, another chapter. Sorry this is a bit late in the coming, as usual, work got in the way, yada yada yada. You know how it works. Thanks so much for the reviews, they always make my day! :D

---------------------------

CHAPTER XVI

Grissom arrived late to hand out assignments. He had spent a couple of minutes in his office staring at the pile of folders on his desk. He wasn't really thinking about them, instead he was still thinking about Sara.

Vowing that he would repair the damage he had created in their relationship, Grissom thought of ways to make it up to her. He just didn't want to be friends with her anymore, seeing her so vulnerable tonight just opened his eyes to all the emotions that were mirrored in him.

He loved Sara. He had for a long time. He just denied himself the pleasure of accepting the fact and voicing it out. Now, more than ever, he needed to make Sara understand that.

He saw that the rest of the team were all present in the break room. They were all looking at Sara and were speaking almost all at the same time. He could see that Sara was blushing furiously. It had been a very long time since he saw her blush and it was a sight he absolutely loved.

He stood just off the door for a second, taking in the scene in front of him. He wasn't seeing the other people in the room; his eyes were only on Sara.

Grissom saw Sara raise her head and look in his direction. Their eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity to Grissom, before she looked away. He saw her look at him again and gave her a smile hoping that she'd return it. He was a bit disappointed that she chose to ignore it and let the rest of the room occupants aware of his presence.

"Hey Griss, you're late." Nick said, approaching and standing beside him facing the group.

"Sorry Nicky," Grissom apologized, his eyes still focused on Sara. She, in turn, looked back at him blankly. "I was figuring out what to do about ... something."

He had meant to convey Sara a message referring to that stupid line he said when she asked him out. She, on the other hand, appeared to not notice it or chose to ignore it.

"Okay, that's some excuse you have," Catherine said, noticing the intense way Grissom was looking at Sara and the latter remaining utterly still. "What have we got for tonight?"

Knocked back to the job at hand, he started assigning the different cases to his team. He had previously made sure that Sara was working with him tonight, taking the first step to restarting their relationship.

As soon as he mentioned that she was going to be working with him, he saw Sara tense up.

Grissom felt a mental kick. Had he screwed their relationship up so bad that she couldn't even stand to work with him anymore? He sighed a bit audibly. He knew that he had only himself to blame for it.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Sara didn't know what game Grissom was playing at, but she didn't appreciate it. She didn't find the smile he had given her nor that look he kept on giving her anywhere near appreciated.

Still feeling emotional from her earlier performance, Sara did not need Grissom's strange and unexplainable attention.

Taking her vest from her locker room, Sara saw Catherine enter and come up right next to her, fishing out something from her own locker.

"So, how was tonight?" she asked.

"Were you there?" Sara asked nervously.

"Nope, I wasn't. I had a date with Lindsey." Catherine answered honestly and Sara believed her.

"You know who was?"

"Maybe you should ask Nick," Catherine said as she closed her locker door. She stopped and looked and Sara. "Hey ... don't worry about it. No one is going to make a big deal of this. You have a lovely voice, and you should use it. It'd be a shame if you didn't."

"It still feels a little strange, y'know." Sara confessed putting on her vest. "It's still weird knowing you all know about it."

"Don't sweat it, we all like it, so there's nothing to worry about." Catherine said to relax her.

"Yeah, well, just tell the guys to make sure none of this ever gets to the boss-man or else." Sra threatened.

Catherine raised her hands in mock surrender as she slowly backed away towards tbe door. "Oh, I'm sure when threatened by you, they'll cower like the boys they are." Sara joined Catherine's laugh at this. The latter said her goodbye and exited the room. Before she did though, she threw Sara another comforting look and said, "Hey ... Good luck tonight."

Sara knew perfectly well what she was referring to. She had wished herself luck as well, hoping to get by working with Grissom tonight.

"Thanks, I'll try to stay afloat," Sara joked before shutting her locker and shortly following Catherine's path.

She found Grissom waiting for her at the reception area. She couldn't tell what his current mood was since his face registered no emotion.

"Hey, have you been waiting long?" Sara said, voice calm. "Sorry for taking long."

"It's okay. Our crime scene won't be leaving anytime soon." Grissom simply stated and walked out of the building leaving Sara to dumbly follow him to their car.

Sara held her breath, afraid that if she spoke it would ruin the silence that crept upon them upon entering their vehicle.

x x x x x x x x x x x

Grissom's mind was going in circles. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this uncomfortable with Sara.

He could feel her sitting rigid beside him and he knew that look on her face. he thought of some topic to discuss with her and try to ease up the tension.

"So, how have you been?" Grissom slapped himself mentally thinking, "Great, that was great. Could you be any smoother?"

"Huh?" Sara asked dumbly. "Oh, I'm ... I'm fine. Why?"

"You've been awfully quiet."

"It's not as if you're chatting me up Griss." came Sara's sarcastic reply. "Besides, how would it look if I started talking to myself? I'd come out psychotic than ever."

"You see yourself as psychotic?" Grissom played along, glad for the sarcastic banter rather than the painful silence.

"Yeah," Sara shrugged nonchalantly. "Most people do."

"I don't." Grissom softly said and looked at her for a second.

Sara remained silent after his comment. He couldn't gauge whether Sara was glad or mad at his comment for her face expressed nothing. Grissom was rapidly losing confidence in his decision to keep a conversation going.

"Why?" Sara's question startled Grissom, coming out after a very long pause.

"Why what?" Grissom asked in a confused voice.

"Why the sudden interest on how I am," her voice was devoid of any emotion. "Have I done something wrong again?"

"Wrong? Sara, I don't know what you mean..."

Sara carefully let out a deep breath before speaking. "Grissom, you've been avoiding me for weeks, granted I've been doing the same to you, but doesn't stop you from keeping tabs on me. So, why now? Why not then?"

Grissom let out a small breath of his own before replying. "I know that I've ... I've been a little distant ..." He didn't get the chance to finish his statement because Sara interrupted him with shock on her voice.

x x x x x x x x x x x

"A little?" Sara's eyes widened and spoke with sarcasm in her voice. "I shudder to think how it would be between us if you completely shut down!"

Once again, silence descended between them. Grissom was racking his brains for an answer to her statement. When at length he didn't speak, she shook her head and continued.

"If I had known asking you to dinner would result to this," Sara's voice had dropped to an almost whisper, filled with sadness. "I'd have definitely thought more of it before doing a relative suicide."

Sara had never experienced such discomfort in Grissom's presence before. The lapses of silence between them have gone to a whole different level and she was itching to get out of it.

Stepping quickly out of the car as soon as Grissom parked their car, she directed her feet towards Brass. She saw the the look that Grissom was giving her as she moved out of their vehicle but disregarded it. Things have gone way downhill from where they were before, and she did not know what that look was for.

She heard him call out her name, but continued on walking until she felt his hand on her arm, pulling her round to face him.

"Sara ... " Grissom pleaded for her to look at him.

Turning to look at his face slowly, she witnessed Grissom nervously forming words with his mouth.

"I want to ..." Grissom stammered. "Let's ... Will you..."

"Griss," Sara saved him from longer torture. She had felt her heart lifting from the nervous way he was talking to her until she remembered, this hopeful thinking always ended up hurting her. She felt her heart drop a million stories. Her eyes ached with the tears that were surely going to flow soon. "Don't," she said. She looked at his eyes once more, seeing confusion register in those blue eyes. "Please don't. I can't handle ... this anymore. I'm so tired ... my heart is so tired." Sara blurted out, afraid that if she didn't, her tears would flow.

"I don't know what you want from me, but for my own sanity, please stop giving me false hopes. Isn't this the whole reason why we're avoiding each other?" As soon as she said it, she quickly turned around and walked off.


	17. Chapter XVII

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : I promise, the end is almost near. :D Bear with me. :D

---------------------------

CHAPTER XVII

"Had a fight with the missus?" Brass quipped.

"I'm not in the mood Jim." Grissom warned as he got close to the detective.

"Hey, you just looked like you two were having a lover's spat there." came back his friend's reply. Jim Brass had his hands raised in mock defense.

"We were not having a 'lover's spat' as you so delicately put it..." Grissom tried to explain but was cut short.

"Was it work related?"

"No, it was not," His response got a slow nod and a strange look from Brass that seemed to beg the question, "What?"

"Well, if it wasn't work related, the look that Sara came away with is definitely that of a 'lover's spat'." Jim replied, eyeing his friend.

"How do I get myself into these kinds of situations?" Grissom expressed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You do, because you're letting a perfectly beautiful brunette walk free when you know you want her." Brass said confidently, hoping to snap Grissom out of his proverbial ass.

Not bothering to see what reaction his words would get, he turned around and walked towards the crime scene the CSIs were here to work on.

Feeling like everyone was out for blood, Grissom shook his head again. He bent down to pick up his kit and followed Brass' lead.

He knew that he had absolutely failed to capture at least a warmer air between him and Sara with that whole car conversation. He wished he knew what else to do.

Asking her out was certainly out of the question. Her earlier refusal produced nothing more than the realization that he had hurt her terribly with his behavior.

He also admitted to himself that where Sara was concerned, words always failed him. He needed something else to prove just how much he cared. He couldn't shake the fear that was slowly creeping up to him.

"What if she's over me?" Grissom thought about the words to the song she sang tonight. "Didn't it sing of moving on?"

Scared that he was losing her, Grissom surrendered to the fact that he needed someone else's help with this.

x x x x x x x x x x x

"So," Warrick and Catherine were in the break room waiting for their results from Ballistics. "What you doing tomorrow? Heard it was your day off."

"Yeah. I actually don't know. Lindsey's spending the night with my mom. I guess I'm all alone." Catherine hoped that she didn't sound like a complete teenager with a crush.

"Well, I was thinking since my day off too, would you ..." Warrick was nervous about asking Catherine out, but he had to try. "Would you like to catch a movie? With me?"

Catherine's heart soared. They've been dancing about the subject for a week now and they're finally moving forward. Now, if the same could be the same about Grissom and Sara, Catherine thought.

Despite her excitement, Catherine spoke in a very calm voice. "I'd love to, though I hope it isn't noir."

"What wrong with noir?" Warrick asked, a smile spreading on his face at her acceptance.

"Nothing, it's just not my thing though. I went to see one with Grissom that time after that movie theater case..." Catherine explained, "I didn't like it much but thought to go along, as it turns out the man wasn't even a fan of noir!"

"Ha, that's Grissom for you." Warrick laughed. At that moment, he saw Grissom round the corner and head straight towards them. "Hey Cath, speak of the devil." he said, directing Cahterine's gaze to the Grissom's approaching figure.

They waited patiently for him to reach the room before they gave their respectve greetings.

"Cath, can I talk to you in my office for a bit?" Grissom said, going straight to the point.

"Sure," Catherine acquiesced, "I'll be there in a minute."

Grissom retreated to his office quietly without so much as a word to Warrick.

Catherine sighed and stood from her seat. "Page me when we get something off those samples from the scene, k?"

Warrick merely nodded at this. Catherine gave him a smile and added, "I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

"So am I..." Warrick replied, smiling up at her.

It took all of Catherine's will to stop herself from pouncing on the guy and kissing him. Instead, she slowly turned around and bee lined towards Grissom's office.

She found her supervisor seated with a strange look on his face.

"What's up?" Catherine said, casually lowering herself on the seat in front of his desk.

"I need you help on something..." Grissom didn't see the need to beat around the bush anymore.

"Okaaay..." Catherine drawled. "Glad that you're cutting to the chase here. I just hope I'm not doing another political cover-up on your unpolitical ass here."

"Much as it makes me happy to know you're always there to catch my 'unpolitical ass', this doesn't involve any politics," Grissom had to laugh at Catherine.

"So, who does it involve then?" Catherine raised an eyebrow.

"Sara."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no.." Catherine shook her head and her hands at Grissom. "I am not going to be party to this. If you need to tell Sara something bad or for some strange reason you need to lecture her about work, AGAIN, I refuse to you there..."

"What the hell?" Grissom thought to himself wildly. "What the hell is she going on about?"

"Cath," he tried to interrupt Catherine's outburst, but to no use. Catherine simply continued on.

"Haven't you punished her enough? Exactly for what reason ... it escapes me, I mean god! You hardly ever talk to her anymore. She's walking around like she has rocks for shoulders. She never has breakfast with us anymore too, though I'm not sure she's eating all together!" Catherine couldn't stop herself. "Gil! You need to snap out of this. For god's sake, tell her how you really feel. Stop hiding behind your work because frankly, we'd rather see you guys together and see you apart!"

Catherine looked at Grissom, her eyes sending him angry shots at his continued silence.

"Well? Aren't you at least going to say something?" Catherine asked angrily.

"Are you about done?" Grissom asked in turn. Getting a nod from Catherine, Grissom signed and spoke again. "I need your help letting Sara know that I care for her."

"Oh," Catherine said, words failing her. She gave Grissom a wide smile, glad that he finally admitted things couldn't go as they were. "About time you did. Why don't you just simply tell her?"

"I tried, God help me, I really tried." Grissom groaned, leaning on his desk to cradle his head with his hands. "It's just that every time I try to tell her how I feel I end up looking like a blabbering idiot and say the wrong things. Plus, at this point, I don't think that simply telling her will suffice."

They remained silent for a while, each thinking up a way to fix the situation. At length, Catherine thought more and more that she had the perfect solution.

"Gil, did you know that Sara could sing?" Catherine confided. She figured now that Grissom wanted to patch things up with Sara this wouldn't hurt her one bit.

"yes, I do. I went to see her the last time." Grissom innocently replied. This gathered a somewhat shocked "Oh!" from Catherine. "It was kinda what made me realize that I can't lose her. I don't want to lose her."

"Well, I have the prefect plan..." Catherine smiled devilishly and leaned closer to Grissom's desk. "And we need reinforcement."

"Reinforcement?"

"Yes, we need the perfect song and the help of three other men."


	18. Chapter XVIII

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Song used in this chapter is 'Only Reminds me of You' by St. Paul.

Additional notes at the bottom of the chapter.

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CHAPTER XVIII

"I can't believe I actually let you guys talk me into this!" Sara exclaimed. They had just entered Tikirocks and were on the lookout for a table to occupy.

"Oh c'mon! This happens rarely these days." Nick complained. "I don't know why you don't spend breakfast with us anymore but I'm sure as hell glad you agreed to this!"

"How can I refuse when you all gang up on me, like you did?" Sara laughed, looking at the smiling faces of Catherine, Warrick, Greg and Nick.

"It's called an intervention Sara." Catherine joked. They all laughed at this and Sara felt so right about her decision to spend tonight with friends.

She recalled how they coaxed her into agreeing to go with them to the bar before shift. She had been hesitant at the start, feeling that they might start asking her about the singing and all, but surprisingly they haven't said one word about it yet.

"Hey, look! We've got ourselves a table." Warrick said pointing to a man who was waving at them from a table somewhat closer to the stage.

Sara smiled and greeted the man when the group reached his side. "Hey Marty! How are things tonight?"

The bar owner smiled down at her after she took the seat he pulled for her. "Not the same as when you're on. Not the same."

"Awww, you flatter me too much, Mary." Sara said jokingly and received a fatherly pat on her shoulders before saying a quick goodbye to the owner.

"So, what are we getting?" Greg excitedly asked.

"No alcoholic beverages, that's for sure." Catherine laughed at Greg's pout.

They all looked at each other, all except Sara, and recited in unison, "Iced Tea!"

"Oh man, the bartender is going to hate us," Greg gave another laugh and offered to order the drinks from the bar.

While he was gone, Nick explained the whole 'Iced Tea' story to Sara. She couldn't stop herself from laughing herself silly and feeling sorry for Greg who was now relating his orders to a miffed bartender.

Greg came back shortly with their drinks and another story about he infamous bartender. Once again, their group laughed out loud at this.

Sara felt happy for the first time in weeks.

She looked around, a little unfamiliar with being in this side of the bar instead of being on stage. She looked up on the stage just in time to catch Bobby getting ready to perform.

Bobby gave her a small wave which she returned. Everyone in the table turned their attention towards Bobby now, as he started to sing his first song.

_I see you beside me_

_it's only a dream,_

_a vision of what used to be_

_the laughter, the sorrow_

_pictures in time_

_fading to memories._

_how could I ever let you go_

_is it too late to let you know_

_I tried to run from your side_

_but each place I hide_

_it only reminds me of you_

_when I turn out all the light_

_even the night_

_it only reminds me of you.. you..._

_I needed my freedom_

_that's what I thought_

_but I was a fool to believe_

_my heart cried while you cried_

_rivers of tears but I was too blind to see_

_Everything we've been though before_

_now it means so much more_

"Hey guys," Sara turned to her friends, "I just realized, that this bar probably comes off like a place for the depressed and broken-hearted to you guys. All of us singing away about heart ache and all?"

"Nah, we don't mind Sar!" Greg playfully put his arm around her shoulders. "It's nice to know you're human from time to time."

Sara laughed at this and gave him a punch on his shoulder. They once again turned to listen to the singing Bobby.

_I tried to run from your side_

_but each place I hide_

_it only reminds me of you_

_When it turn out all the light_

_even the night_

_it only reminds me of you.._

_only you.._

_so come back to me_

_I'm down on my knees_

_can't you see.._

_how could I ever let you go_

_is it too late to let you know_

_I tried to run from your side_

_but each place I hide_

_it only reminds me of you_

_when it turn out all the light_

_even the night it only reminds me of you... you_

They all applauded gleefully when Bobby finished his song. Because Sara knew that the guy usually performed twice, Sara kept her attention on him.

She mildly noticed Catherine getting up and leaving the table at one point for a couple of minutes, but thought nothing of it.

Normally, Sara knew Bobby would transition into his second song seamlessly, but tonight, it was different. He waited until everybody's attention was focused on him and spoke to the crowd.

"Hello everyone." Bobby greeted. "Umm.. I was asked to do this next song for a special person in the audience tonight."

"Aww, that's sweet." Sara heard Nick say and gave him a look that made him laugh.

"This person wanted to convey what he can't seem to say when his special girl is around. He says that it's always hard to say what he means."

"Much like someone we know, eh?" Sara sarcastically said, throwing her statement at her friends.

"Oh, we know! We know!" Catherine answered with a evil grin on her face that made Sara wonder what she was thinking of.

"Anyway, long story short, he hopes that she reads between the lines." bobby said to the audience before turning towards Sara and her friends. Sara was getting squeamish; Bobby was now just looking straight at her. "This song is for you ... Sara."

Sara stared and stared. What the hell was going on?

---------------------------

ADDITIONAL A/N : Sorry to disappoint some of the readers, but I just don't see Grissom singing at all. :D So instead, he's having someone sing the song for him. :D

The next chapter is really the end of this story. sniff


	19. Chapter XIX

DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Song used in this chapter is 'The Way' by Clay Aiken. I think the lyrics of the song speak so very well for Grissom.

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CHAPTER XIX

Sara was staring up at Bobby, shocked and confused. "Maybe he has the wrong Sara in mind." Her brain tried to register, but she was afraid that Bobby was not mistaken. She couldn't understand what was happening and while she sat there dumbfounded, Bobby started singing.

_There's something 'bout the way you look tonight,_

_There's something 'bout the way that I can't take my eyes off you._

As Bobby sang these lines, he pointed to something behind Sara's seat. Sara quickly turned around and almost fell off her seat when she found Gil Grissom staring back at her.

He slowly walked up to her seat and held out his hand. "Will you dance with me, Sara?"

Sara shot a questioning look at everyone else on the table. They were all grinning at her like idiots but it was Catherine who spoke up to simply say, "Surprise!"

Sara's jaw dropped. She looked from Grissom standing in front of her, to her friends, who were all egging her to take Grissom's hand.

She slowly slid her hand into his and felt him pull her slowly up to her feet. If the rest of the people in the audience minded them dancing, they didn't complain about it.

Grissom pulled Sara into his arms, resting one arm on her back and the other still holding her hand and rested them on his chest.

Then, they swayed slowly to the song.

Sara's senses were all tingling. She couldn't believe that this was happening.

_There's something 'bout the way your lips invite,_

_Maybe it's the way that I get nervous when you're around._

_And I want you to be mine_

_and if you need a reason why,_

"Griss ...? Why? How?" Sara began to ask, but was cut off when Grissom whispered softly on her ear.

"Shhh.... just ... just listen to the song Sidle," there was humor in his voice that made Sara smile.

She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, enjoying the feel of his hand on her back and the feel of his breath fanning the side of her sensitive neck.

_It's in the way that you move me, and the way that you tease me,_

_The way that I want you tonight,_

_It's in the way that you hold me, and the way that you know me,_

_When I can't find the right words to say,_

_You feel it in the way,_

_you feel it in the way._

Grissom was getting intoxicated by the wonderful feeling of Sara's body against his own. His hand was now slowly stroking her back.

He could feel her breath on his neck and he closed his eyes to savor the feeling.

They were oblivious to the other couples who have now joined them in dancing. Catherine and Warrick were now dancing right beside them, but they only felt each other.

_There's something 'bout how you stay on my mind,_

_There's something 'bout the way that I whisper your name when I'm asleep Oh girl_

_Maybe it's the look you get in your eyes._

_Maybe it's the way that it makes me feel to see you smile._

_And the reasons they may change_

_But what I'm feeling stays the same._

"Sara..." Grissom's voice broke the comfortable silence.

She pulled back a little to look at him. "Yes?"

"I'm scared." Grissom simply said, his voice shaking a bit. Sara saw something in his eyes that resembled fear.

"Scared of what, Griss?" Sara wanted so much to comfort him and banish the fear in his eyes.

"I'm scared that I might be too late." He looked deeply into her ryes, trying to find something there that would erase his fears forever. "Am I too late?"

A slow smile appeared on Sara's face. She loved this man. She totally, absolutely loved him. "No, Griss. I'd say you're just about time."

There it was. His blue eyes no longer reflected the fear that was present there a moment ago. Instead, she found a whole different emotion taking over his eyes and his face. The change knocked the Sara's breath away.

Grissom brushed his cheek against hers and tightened his hold on her. They continued to enjoy holding each other.

_I can't put my fingers on just what it is that makes me love you, you baby._

_So don't ask me to describe, I get all choked up inside, just thinking bout the way._

_It's in the way that you move me, and the way that you tease me,_

_The way that I want you tonight,_

_It's in the way that you hold me, and the way that you know me,_

_When I can't find the right words to say,_

_You feel it in the way, you feel it in the way._

_There's something 'bout the way you look tonight._

_There's nothing more to say than, I feel it in the way._

"Oh and Sara?" Grissom spoke once more. When she was looking up at him, he continued, saying, "Just so .. umm... it's clear... I .. ummm... umm... "

Sara guessed what Grissom was trying to say and smiled at him.

"It's okay Griss. I know ... now." Sara stroked his cheek lovingly, remembering the first time she did the exact same thing. "I ... ummm... umm... you too."

Grissom gave a small laugh and kissed her cheek, before leaning further to capture her lips in his.

Now, Sara had dreamt many a nights of how it would be like kissing Gil Grissom. In her dreams, the kiss was endless and always threw her off her feet.

Her dreams were nothing like how it felt at this moment.

This ... being in the arms and being kissed by Gil Grissom? ... It was beautiful.

_The End –_

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Additional A/N : Thank you sooo very much to those who gave their reviews. They have been greatly motivating and I'm eternally grateful!

Wurlocke / 


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